Political Theory

Alan Patten rightly points out that Hegel still has a lot to offer in terms of his account of the family, civil society and the state. Hegel’s arguments on these spheres are subtly developed in this book, but a claim to Hegel’s continued significance in political philosophy must also try to take into account the international sphere. Here Patten is silent, and this may reflect Hegel’s less convincing approach at this level. Starting life as a PhD thesis at Oxford this book provides a searching examination of some of Hegel’s key ideas. The author defends Hegel’s view of freedom as self-determination in an interesting and persuasive way. He examines closely the manner in which both Kant and Hegel regarded morality and freedom as reciprocally related, preferring Hegel’s to Kant’s account of the connection between the two. Hegel’s critique of the social contract tradition is also reviewed as is Hegel’s justification of private property, contrasting Hegel’s views with Fichte’s. Patten likes to regard Hegel as a civic humanist, noting there are one or two adjustments to the doctrine which have to be made to accommodate Hegel. In particular, to achieve this assimilation Hegel’s metaphysics has to be bracketed out. This is Hegel without spirit. It is an unashamedly left Hegelian, communitarian view of his thinking. With this caveat it is a book which I will recommend to students when I next teach Hegel.