Lectures on the Philosophy of History

[exten]sion of it; in fact, nothing more is needed than to point out the driving Idea original: "impelling Idea"; in Hegel's philosophy, the "Idea" refers to the realization of absolute reason within the world.. In the later lectures, on the other hand, China, India, and the East in general were covered more quickly, while more time and attention were devoted to the Germanic World original: "German World"; in this context, Hegel refers to the "Germanic" or Western European world as the final stage of historical development.. Gradually, the philosophical and abstract elements took up less space, the historical material was expanded, and the entire work became more accessible to a general audience.

It is easy to see how the different versions of the course complement each other. The full substance of the work cannot be captured without uniting the philosophical elements—which dominate the earlier lectures and must form the foundation of the work—with the historical expansion that characterizes the final versions.

If Hegel had followed the plan most professors adopt when preparing notes for the lecture room—simply adding corrections and additions to an original draft—it would be reasonable to assume that his latest lectures were also his most mature. On the contrary, because every delivery was a new act of thought for him, each version only expresses the level of philosophical energy that animated his mind at that specific time. In fact, the first two lecture series of 1822–23 and 1824–25 exhibit a far more comprehensive power of thought and expression, and a much richer store of striking ideas and appropriate images, than those of a later date. That first inspiration, which accompanied the thoughts when they first emerged, could only lose its living freshness through repetition.

From what has been said, the nature of the task involved in this new edition is quite clear. A treasury of thought of significant value had to be recovered from the first lectures, and a tone of originality restored to the whole. The printed text of the first edition was therefore used as the basis. The work of inserting, supplementing, substituting, and transforming—as the case seemed to require—was undertaken with the greatest possible respect for the original. No room was left for the personal views of the Editor, since Hegel’s own manuscripts were the sole guide for all such alterations. While the first publication of these lectures—with the exception of part of the Introduction—followed only the notes taken by students, this second edition has endeavored to supplement them by making Hegel’s own manuscripts the...