Hegel explains: On the spirit in the world

With the advent of the Enlightenment, more and more focus was placed on breaking the world down into its smallest parts and systems in order to better understand it. This development is entirely understandable due to the human thirst for discovery, but it brought with it something that probably no one had expected and which was to prove extremely problematic.

"The whole sphere of reality unfolds in the history of the world."

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

We have begun to see reality no longer as a great whole, no longer as a unity, but as a collection of countless independent things. While most Far Eastern philosophies emphasize the interconnectedness of all being and early Christianity also saw creation as a great whole, a sense of independence and isolation became increasingly widespread, especially with the Enlightenment.

People feel like strangers in the vastness of the world, the universe.

The human sense of feeling alien in the vastness of the world and the universe is a profound problem from both a philosophical and practical perspective. Philosophically, this sense of alienation undermines the fundamental search for meaning and belonging that many philosophical systems attempt to address. It contradicts the understanding of the human being as an integral part of the universe, in a harmonious and meaningful relationship with its environment. This separation leads to a worldview characterized by isolation and disintegration, which impairs the ability to develop a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of all things.

From a practical point of view, this feeling of alienation leads to a number of psychosocial and ecological problems. Those who feel alienated from their environment may find it difficult to develop empathy and a sense of responsibility for others and for nature. This can manifest itself in a lack of respect for the environment, social isolation and a general indifference to the effects of one's own actions. Furthermore, this alienation can lead to a sense of meaninglessness and psychological distress such as depression and anxiety, as individual existence is perceived as isolated and insignificant. At a time when global cooperation and a deep understanding of the interconnectivity of all forms of life are crucial, this alienation is a serious obstacle to collective action and the pursuit of harmonious and sustainable coexistence.

However, Hegel began to work out something that in principle reverses (or can reverse) this division and separation: The spirit.

Hegel's spirit: unity in fragmentation

In this age of fragmentation, where man felt increasingly alienated from the world, Hegel's concept of spirit offered a revolutionary perspective. He understood the spirit not as an abstract entity, but as the fundamental principle that holds the world together in its wholeness. For Hegel, the spirit was the driving force behind the development of history, culture and human consciousness. Through the spirit, according to Hegel, we could overcome the artificial separation created by the analytical thinking of the Enlightenment and arrive at a deeper understanding of the world as a coherent whole.

In this context, Hegel's dialectic becomes relevant. He saw world history as a dialectical process in which each epoch or idea (thesis) encounters its own negation (antithesis) and ultimately leads to a higher stage of development (synthesis). This synthesis embodies a deeper unity that transcends the apparent opposites. Hegel's vision of spirit as something that is constantly unfolding and developing itself offers a way to understand the fragmented modern world and to see its seemingly separate parts as aspects of a dynamic, evolving whole.

Note: This dynamic is one of the reasons why Hegel's philosophy can be somewhat difficult to understand. Everything is in a constant state of change. Each three-step process (hypothesis, antithesis, synthesis) leads to something new, which is a stark contrast to the clear conditions that prevail in other philosophical schools. Another reason is the cumbersome formulations that Hegel used.

A key component of Hegel's philosophy is the idea that the human spirit and human society do not exist in isolation from the rest of nature. He emphasized that the development of human consciousness and society is part of a broader process in which the spirit recognizes and realizes itself. In this sense, human history is not just a sequence of events, but a process in which the mind - or universal consciousness - increasingly achieves self-awareness and freedom.

By emphasizing the unity of subject and object, individual and society, man and nature, Hegel builds a bridge between the individual and the universe. In this light, we can understand our own lives and experiences as integral parts of a larger whole and recognize that our separation from the world is an illusion.

Hegel's spirit invites us to go beyond the limits of materialism and empiricism and explore a deeper, more holistic view of reality. He asks us to see life not as a series of isolated events or as a struggle of isolated individuals, but as an ongoing process of self-development and self-discovery.