Reception of Hegel’s Social and Political Thought in the Work of Charles Taylor Cover Image

Recepcija Hegelove društveno-političke misli u djelu Charlesa Taylora
Reception of Hegel’s Social and Political Thought in the Work of Charles Taylor

Bernstein’s Criticism of Taylor’s Interpretation of Hegel

Author(s): Vladimir Nocić
Subject(s): Political Philosophy, Social Philosophy, 19th Century Philosophy, Contemporary Philosophy, German Idealism, Hermeneutics
Published by: Hrvatsko Filozofsko Društvo
Keywords: Charles Taylor; Richard J. Bernstein; Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel; ethical life (Sittlichkeit); expressivism; the self; self-interpretation; hermeneutics; praxis;

Summary/Abstract: This paper considers the role that Hegel’s social and political philosophy plays in modern Anglo-American philosophical tradition. The author accordingly begins with the criticism of Charles Taylor by Richard J. Bernstein, regarding the former’s study on Hegel’s philosophy. By analyzing two fundamental concepts on which Taylor’s reception of Hegel is based – expressivist definition of the self and ethical life – the author shows that these problems are essentially inseparable and that they are nothing but two manifestations of one core problem, which pertains to the definition of the subject within the community in which it is shaped during interaction with others. The author concludes that Bernstein’s criticism of Taylor’s study is mostly limited to the noetic and theoretical aspects of Hegel’s philosophy, while neglecting the social and political ones. Consequently, it fails to satisfactorily establish the significance of Hegel’s philosophy of objective spirit in a modern socio-political context. In the Anglo-American tradition, this significance is most adequately established and represented by Taylor.

  • Issue Year: 35/2015
  • Issue No: 04/140
  • Page Range: 705-715
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Croatian