ABSTRACT
Hegel exhibits more interest in non-Western societies and their distinctive cultures or Geister than any other major European philosopher, and he is second only to Montesquieu, among his predecessors, in the extent to which this interest manifests itself in his political thought, broadly construed. In this chapter I consider how Hegel as a political theorist assessed non-Western (especially Asian) institutions and how his inquiries in this area informed his systematic political theory.1
