ABSTRACT
The central aim of G. W. F. Hegel's social philosophy is to reconcile his contemporaries—the men and women of the nineteenth century—to the modern social world. This chapter is concerned to locate the concept of reconciliation. It provides a positive account of Hegel's philosophical concept of reconciliation. Reconciliation is the main goal and central organizing category of Hegel's social philosophy. In order to understand his social philosophy, understand the role that reconciliation plays within it. Equally worthy of attention is the claim that reconciliation constitutes a significant social ideal. Hegel's social philosophy provides the best place to thinking about the philosophical importance of this ideal. The philosophical project is "philosophical" in that it attempts to reconcile people by providing them with a philosophical account of their central social institutions that will allow them to see that their world is a home despite appearances.
