ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the general principles of G.W.F. Hegel's political philosophy from his historical and philosophical analyses of modernity. Hegel expresses his analysis of the consciousness of the modern world in three distinct and parallel modes of discourse: historical, philosophical, or logical in Hegel's terms, and political. Hegel devoted most of his discussion of the historical background of the French Revolution to an analysis of the development of that form of subjective consciousness that finds political expression in the revolution. The exposition of this analysis which follows pays particular attention to the role Hegel assigns to religion. The French Revolution marks a decisive turning point in world history in that it declares that from this time on universal, rational principles will be the sole determinants of political life. Hegel attempts to ground this declaration in the nature of the historical world itself, showing how the revolution represents the culmination of world history.
