Philosophy of Right: 202 (Galaxy Books) - Softcover

Among the most influential parts of the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831) were his ethics, his theory of the state, and his philosophy of history. The Philosophy of Right (Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts) (1821), the last work published in Hegel's lifetime, is a combined system of moral and political philosophy, or a sociology dominated by the idea of the state. Here Hegel repudiates his earlier assessment of the French Revolution as a "a marvelous sunrise" in the realization of liberty. Rejecting the republican form of government, he espouses an idealized form of a constitutional monarchy, whose ultimate power rests with the sovereign.

Hegel's Philosophy of Right was the last of his major works to be published in his lifetime. It contains his mature views on such subjects as law, rights, morality, the family, economic life, and the state. Ever since its publication in 1821 it has been variously interpreted: it profoundly influenced Marx and the development of Communism; Bosanquet found in it the basis of Democracy; while some modern writers regard it as one of the origins of national Socialism. This new translation is complete, and it has been made as literal as possible in order to allow Hegel to speak for himself.