Abstract

Freedom and slavery. Hegel on habit This article is an introduction to the Dutch translation of Hegel’s analysis of habit in paragraphs 409–410 of the Encyclopaedia Philosophy of Spirit, which is published in this issue. The analysis of habit is placed in context through a discussion of the preceding paragraphs, which describe how human consciousness detaches itself from its immersion in nature and consider the relation between habit and madness. This is followed by a discussion of the ambiguous nature of habit, which according to Hegel is both necessary for thinking and freedom but at the same time leads us to act mechanically and without thinking and thus turns us into slaves of habit. The final section argues that the problematic, ‘enslaving’ aspect of habit is not a passing phase that is overcome at higher levels of development, as Hegel sometimes seems to suggest. Both Hegel’s theory of ethical life and the modern state as ‘second nature’ as well as the ‘pure thought’ of philosophy remain rooted in habit and can therefore not be detached from the dark side of habit, which threatens the rationality and integrity of modern ethical life and philosophy.