Episode 48: Hegel

In this episode, we begin our series on the philosophical climate that preceded the two World Wars. Today, we discuss the life and work of the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831). Hegel argued that human history progresses according to a process called The Dialectic. At each stage in The Dialectic, one nation is responsible for pushing the world into the next stage of history, by force if necessary. In the 19th century, Hegel believed that this nation was Germany. Hegel argued that Nations were superorganisms, and that individual human beings were insignificant except as organs of the State. Further, he claimed War was good because War reminds everyone that Nations are permanent and people are temporary. Unfortunately, his theories became quite popular.