Up@dawn 2.0

Monday, October 8, 2012

Sec19 Grp1: About Hegel

"Haygull" is mainly associated with his philosophy about History. See the underlines? It's a mnemonic maybe.

Anyway...
he argues, unpopularly, that history is not a random sequence of events, that it instead is constantly moving toward a goal of self-awareness, self-actualization, self-understanding. As to the goal history is moving toward, he claims the end will be the point when everything clicks like a light bulb in the head of the Spirit, a collective mindset shared by all humans, and all of history makes sense. Thus, we learn from our mistakes and move forward. In a sense, the end of the world will come about when we build utopias that ultimately fail, just like in every dystopian novel ever written.

We talked about retrospection, as well. Hegel says our mistakes are not always obvious in the moment we're making them; it's only in hindsight that we realize we're wrong. ("The owl of Minerva flies only at dusk.") This, to me, sounds like an application of the Black Swan theory... which wasn't developed yet. He says sagacity is a trait that arises from fixing errors made in the past. The Black Swan theory supports this by claiming there was always a possibility, no matter how minute, of a genuinely surprising event happening, but that it seemed farfetched before it happened, so we dismissed it. So, in order to move forward, we must look backward.

Since Hegel's writings were so esoteric, much about his philosophy is unknown. But if we take one thing from him, it should be that no one is perfect; however, we can move toward that goal by smoothing out our imperfections.

5 comments:

  1. Jeremy Brooks9:06 PM CDT

    I suppose this is my attempt at connecting the 18th century with the present, but I can't help but immediately think of the basis of the Zeitgeist Movement when I read of Hegel and his theory that we as a species are progressive and everything we do is a move towards progression. Not only does the terminology connect, (Zeitgeist-- Spirit of the Age) but the philosophy behind it suggests that we as human beings are emergent (I suppose another term that can be interchanged with "progressive". The utility in this cause comes in the eventual creation of something that can be viewed as an idealistic utopia sans of systematic monetary exchange.

    Darwin
    FQ: What is a concept that supports Darwin's original theory of evolution?
    DQ: Darwin himself implied in his continuing faith in God despite his fingers in a letter to a fellow scientist. How could one believe in Darwinism and yet keep his/her faith in religious doctrine? Your thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
  2. FQ: Darwin was a Philosopher. T or F
    DQ: If we are all descendants of monkeys, why have all monkeys not evolved? Don't species evolve at the same time?

    ReplyDelete
  3. One aspect of Hegel's belief that stuck out to me was his strong view that fundamental assumptions could be overturned. The other day my astronomy teacher stated that scientists, given the slightest shred of truthful evidence, would love to throw away scientific "law" and theories and come up with new ones. It gives a sense of connectedness between disciplines but it might just be me.

    FQ: Who was the other naturalist whose similar theories on evolution gave Darwin the confidence to go forth and publish his own?
    DQ:Why do some people when presented with the theory of evolution and its evidence still chose not to believe it, while others fully agree?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ben Raper12:08 PM CDT

    Hegel's theory of a species progressing overtime may not have been popular back then. In todays world, those ideas have been since given proof to this idea. He laid down the foundation to future philosophers as well as science with people such as Darwin later on.

    FQ: Was Darwin thought by people to be such an influence and to create this kind of idea throughout his life and at school? T or F

    DQ: Could you argue that his theories may have always been within species from our creation? As a christian or anyone knowing their beliefs and the first book of the Bible give a definite answer to this?

    ReplyDelete
  5. FQ: Was Darwin an evolution theory believer?
    DQ: What are your stands on evolution theory?

    ReplyDelete

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