HISTORICISM

-Hegel-

Bagas Ashari A 14211141022

Fitrana Amalia H 14211141023
Hardiyanto 14211141024
Ade Cahya R 14211141025
English Literature A-3

Background:

Georg Wilhem Friedrich Hegel was a legitimate child of Romanticism. He was born in Stuttgard in
1770, and began to study theology in Tubingen at the age of eighteen. In 1799 he worked with Schelling in Jena
during the time when Romantic Movement was experiencing its most explosive growth, and became a professor
in Heidelberg, the center of German National Romanticism. In 1818, he became professor in Berlin during the
time when the city was becoming the spiritual center of Europe. He died of cholera in 1831. Hegelianism had
gained an enormous following at nearly all the universities in Germany.

Hegel was the first major philosopher to regard history and the Philosophy of History as important.
Hegel's Historicism is the position that all human societies (and all human activities such as science, art or
philosophy) are defined by their history, and that their essence can be sought only through understanding that.
According to Hegel, to understand why a person is the way he is, you must put that person in a society; and to
understand that society, you must understand its history, and the forces that shaped it. He is famously quoted as
claiming that "Philosophy is the history of philosophy".

Different with Kant which thought that what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong, Hegel thought
that right and wrong things is completely subjective and differ based on certain historical context. Therefore, truth
will not remain the same. Differ from Kant, Hegel thought that there is no eternal truth and no timeless reason.

Full-Fledged Scholar and Philosopher:

Hegel united and developed almost all the ideas that had surfaced in the Romantic Period, yet he was
sharply critical of many Romantics, including Schelling. Romanticism considers that art was humanity’s greatest
expression of freedom and Romantics saw nature as a world spirit. Schelling and the other Romantics had said
that the deepest meaning of life lay in what they called ‘world spirit’. Whereas Hegel also uses the terms world
spirit, but in the different sense. What Hegel meant in world spirit or world reason is the sum of human
utterances - human life, human thought, and human culture, because only human who has a spirit.

He spoke about the progress of world spirit throughout history. He spoke about human life, human
thought, and human culture. Hegel also pointed out that truth is subjective, he rejected the existence of any ‘truth’
above or beyond human reason. He said that all knowledge is human knowledge. His philosophy was so all-
embracing and diversified that for present purposes we should focus on the main aspect. Thus, his philosophy also
teaches us to be a productive thinker.

Hegel philosophy is mainly a method for understanding the progress of history. Hegel believed that the
basis of human cognition changed from one generation to the next. There were therefore no eternal truth, no
timeless reason. The only fixed point philosophy can hold on to is history itself, but that does not mean we cannot
talk about it even the history itself is in a constant state of change.
 Hegel was the first major philosopher to regard history and the Philosophy of History as important.
Hegel's Historicism is the position that all human societies (and all human activities such as science, art or
philosophy) are defined by their history, and that their essence can be sought only through understanding that.
According to Hegel, to understand why a person is the way he is, you must put that person in a society; and to
understand that society, you must understand its history, and the forces that shaped it. He is famously quoted as
claiming that "Philosophy is the history of philosophy".

Hegel’s Philosophical Project:

“History is in a constant state of change, so how can it be a fixed point?”

Hegel thought history was like a running river, every movement in the world it is determined by the
context. Therefore, truth was subjective and that human reason changed each generation. We cannot claim that
any particular thought is correct for ever and ever. Thought must be judged in their context and right and wrong
change accordingly, it is because some things can be right or wrong in relation to a certain historical context.

Hegel also pointed out that philosopher reflection and reason is dynamic, it is the same process which is
also occurs in truth because there are no criteria beyond the historical process itself that can determine what is the
truest or the most reasonable. In other word, human knowledge is always increasing through history, so history is
progressive. History is the story of the world spirit gradually coming to consciousness itself and human culture &
development have made the world spirit increasingly conscious of its intrinsic value.

Thus, Hegel thought about a historical reality: |Self-knowledge| -> |Self-development|

The study of history shows that humanity is moving toward greater rationality and freedom. In spite of this,
historical development is progressive. We can conclude that history is purposeful. Humanity is moving towards
greater rationality and freedom.

Hegel also tells about the stages of knowledge in which firstly knowledge is formed because a tension
arises between two opposite ways of thinking, but the tension is resolved by the proposal of a third thought
which accommodates the best of the both point of view. Hegel calls this a dialectic process.

Hegel’s dialecticism:

1. Thesis -> a first stand point (Thesis)

2. Negation -> Contradictory claim towards the first stand point (Antithesis)

3. Negation of negation -> The third thought which accommodates the best of both point of view
(Synthesis)

Then, the synthesis or the negation of the negation can be contradicted by new antithesis, this is called
triad.

Hegel also believed that history itself revealed this dialectical pattern. He thus claimed he had uncovered
certain laws for the development of reason or for the progress of the world spirit through history but this is not
only applicable to history. For example, when we discuss something, we think dialectically. We try to find flaws
in the argument. Hegel called this as ‘negative thinking.’ While we are in the discussion like this, it is not easy to
decide which position is more rational and the reasonable is the viable or that which is right survives.

In discussion, there will often be a dialectic tension between two concepts. The example of this is the
concept of being and nothing, which become resolved in the concept of becoming. This is a dynamic logic of
Hegel’s reason appeared because reality is characterized by opposites therefore a description of reality must be
full of opposites.

The final aspects of Hegel’s philosophy are a thought that reason or world spirit came to light first and
foremost in interplay of people. Such as, a belief in the community over the individual and a belief that language
forms people rather than vice versa.

Besides, he also thought that it is not individual that finds itself, it is the world spirit, the world spirit
returns to itself in three stages: in the individual it is the subjective spirit, in the community the objective spirit,
and in art, religion, and philosophy it is the absolute spirit.

Thus, philosophy is the greatest form of knowledge because it involves the world spirit reflecting on itself.
-Hardi-

Pada hemat Krasnoff cita-cita modernitas tentang kebebasan terasa paling kental merasuk di dalam seluruh tubuh filsafat Hegel.[5] Tulisan-
tulisan Hegel menggambarkan bagaimana roh absolut bergerak di dalam sejarah untuk sampai pada kebebasan. Namun mengapa Hegel
menjadikan tema kebebasan, yang merupakan esensi modernitas, di dalam filsafatnya? Menurut penelitian yang dilakukan Krasnoff, Hegel
memilih kebebasan sebagai tema utama filsafatnya, karena ia pertama-tama terpesona oleh revolusi Perancis. Sebagai seorang pemuda
yang lahir pada 1770, ia terpana oleh gelora kebebasan yang mewujud secara nyata di dalam revolusi Perancis.

Ia adalah seorang anak pegawai negeri sipil rendahan dari Stuttgart. Walaupun miskin namun Hegel sangat cerdas. Pada 1788 ia masuk
seminari (sekolah pendidikan calon imam di dalam Agama Katolik) di Universitas Tuebingen. Di sana ia bertemu dengan Friedrich
Schelling (juga seorang filsuf Idealis Jerman yang cukup ternama) dan menjalin persahabatan dengannya. Schelling dan Hegel kini dikenal
sebagai para filsuf Idealisme Jerman. Secara singkat Idealisme Jerman adala paham filsafat yang berpendapat, bahwa realitas bukanlah
material secara hakiki, melainkan bentukan dari konsep-konsep rasional yang terletak di dalam pikiran manusia. Konsep-konsep tersebut
seperti aku murni, roh absolut, non-aku, dan sebagainya. Idealisme Jerman berkembang pada abad ke-18 di Jerman, namun pengaruhnya
masih sangat terasa hingga sekarang ini.

Masa Hegel hidup adalah masa yang penuh dengan tantangan. Revolusi Perancis dengan cita-cita kebebasan, persamaan, dan persaudaraan
mengguncang tatanan monarki feodal sebelumnya. Walaupun pada masa itu Perancis adalah tempat yang penuh dengan gejolak, namun
Jerman, tempat Hegel lahir dan tumbuh, tetap stabil seolah tidak terjadi apa-apa. Universitas Tübingen seolah tetap steril, jauh dari gejolak
yang ditimbulkan oleh Revolusi Perancis dan gerakan filsafat Pencerahan. Memang pada waktu itu, Tübingen adalah universitas yang
konservatif. Teks-teks filsafat Pencerahan yang kental dengan ide otonomi dan kebebasan individu dilarang untuk disebarkan. Tentu saja
Hegel tidak mematuhi aturan yang aneh itu.

-ADE-

Metode dialektik Hegel terdiri dari tiga tahap. Yang pertama adalah tesis, yakni membangun suatu pernyataan
tertentu. Yang kedua adalah antitesis, yakni suatu pernyataan argumentatif yang menolak tesis. Dan yang
ketiga adalah sintesis, yakni upaya untuk mendamaikan tegangan antara tesis dan antitesis. Biasanya para
ahli mengaitkan konsep dialektika ini dengan filsafat Hegel, walaupun Hegel sendiri tidak pernah secara
eksplisit menyatakan argumennya melalui konsep tesis, antitesis, dan sintesis. Sebaliknya Hegel justru
menyatakan, bahwa ia mendapatkan argumen itu dari filsafat Kant. Lepas dari itu metode dialektik memang
nantinya menjadi sangat populer di tangan para filsuf Idealisme Jerman, terutama di dalam pemikiran Hegel.

Metode dialektika Hegel juga memiliki unsur kontradiksi yang sangat kuat. Baginya setiap tahap
perkembangan realitas, mulai dari tesis, antitesis, dan sintesis, muncul dari kontradiksi yang kuat di dalam
tahap sebelumnya. Seluruh sejarah dunia adalah sejarah dialektika dan kontradiksi. Dahulu kala pemerintahan
yang ideal adalah pemerintahan monarki absolut dengan menjadikan satu raja sebagai acuan utama politik.
Monarki absolut tersebut didasarkan pada dua asumsi, yakni legalitas perbudakan untuk memperoleh tenaga
kerja manusia murah, dan asumsi bahwa rakyat adalah orang bodoh yang tidak mampu memimpin ataupun
membuat keputusan untuk dirinya sendiri. Cara pandang itu mengalami kontradiksi, karena jika asumsi itu
terwujud, maka negara justru tidak akan berkembang. Sekarang ini bentuk pemerintahan ideal adalah
demokrasi dengan mengacu pada warga negara yang bebas dan cerdas.
Dari contoh di atas dapatlah disimpulkan, bahwa kontradiksi tidaklah muncul dari luar tesis, melainkan justru
dari dalamnya. Di dalam konsep monarki absolut sebagai acuan filsafat politik, sudah ada ‘anti’ dari monarki
absolut itu sendiri. Antitesis sudah selalu terkandung di dalam tesis. Dan sintesis sudah selalu terkandung di
dalam tesis dan antitesis. Dalam bahasa Hegel di dalam Ilmu Logika, di dalam Ada dan Ketiadaan sudah selalu
terkandung ‘menjadi’. Lalu apa sebenarnya tujuan dari metode dialektika ini?
Tujuan dasar dari dialektika adalah untuk menganalisis realitas pada dirinya sendiri, seturut geraknya sendiri,
dan untuk memahami itu semua dalam terang akal budi. Konsep inti di dalam metode dialektika Hegel adalah
negasi atas negasi (negation of the negation), atau yang ia sebut juga sebagai Aufhebung. Konsep ini diawali
dengan sebuah premis sederhana, bahwa segala sesuatu menjadi apa adanya, karena selalu berada di dalam
relasi dengan yang lainnya, yang bukan sesuatu itu. Meja bisa ada dan diketahui oleh manusia, karena ada
segala sesuatu yang bukan meja,. Meja menegasi segala sesuatu yang bukan meja, sehingga ia menjadi
dirinya sendiri.
Hegel mau mengajarkan kita untuk melihat realitas sebagai suatu proses. Proses tersebut melewati tahap-
tahap tertentu yang kelihatannya penuh dengan negativitas. Namun negativitas itu sebenarnya merupakan
antitesis yang nantinya akan ‘melampaui’ tesis dan antitesis sebelumnya. Seluruh realitas menurut Hegel
bergerak dengan pola itu. Dan pada akhir sejarah, realitas akan mengalami sintesis absolut. Itulah akhir
sejarah menurut Hegel. Seluruh proses ini disebutnya sebagai dialektika, dan unsur penting dari dialektika itu
adalah kontradiksi dan negasi. Kontradiksi dan negasi itu memiliki unsur negativitas yang kuat, namun
diperlukan untuk perkembangan realitas menuju sintesis absolut.***

-Bagas-
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