ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

While Arendt’s interest in Hegel’s philosophy predates The Life of the Mind, she is particularly critical of Hegel’s philosophy of history in The Life of the Mind, likening it to a “curious disembodied ghostly dance.” According to Arendt, the World Spirit or Progress of Mankind that drives Hegel’s philosophy of history is an abstract and universal concept, and it is only a hypothesis that is assumed at the expense of the human plurarity, treating individuals as fools and puppets on the stage of history. In addition, Hegel’s philosophy of history relies on the assumption of a “singular World Spirit” that is a “ghostly Nobody,” and history is only an inevitable and deterministic process of self-actualization of the World Spirit to achieve its predetermined purpose. This process is carried out through the most solitary work of the World Spirit alone, where no interaction between actual actors is possible. Arendt’s critique of Hegel relies not only on his view of Hegel’s philosophy of history as very modern, but also on Arendt’s own problematic conception of political action. Inherent in Arendt’s ‘anti-Hegelianism’ is the concern hat treating historical phenomena such as totalitarianism as predetermined and inevitable in the purposive progression of world history can lead to inhumane consequences such as Eichmann in Jerusalem. However, Arendt’s critique of Hegel can be questioned in light of the different interpretations of Hegel’s philosophy of history, such as that of T. Pinkard. Rather, it is necessary to examine the extent to which Arendt’s and Hegel’s positions are familiar to each other and share a sense of problematic, such as through Hegel’s concept of mutual recognition.

키워드