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Hegel, Antigone, And Women, Philip J. Kain

Philosophy

When Hegel turns to a treatment of culture in Chapter VI of the Phenomenology—as anyone who has read his early writings would expect1—he begins with the ancient Greek polis. There the human spirit first fully emancipated itself from nature as it had not, in Hegel’s opinion, in Egypt; yet it was still in perfect harmony and balance with the natural. In Hegel’s view, this was an age of beaut y that produced a social community and an ethical life where citizens were free and at home. What is a bit surprising, though, is that in the Phenomenology Hegel does not …