Hegel's Refutation of Rational Egoism, in True Infinity and the Idea

Introduction

In the history of moral and political philosophy, the apparent rationality of egoism-a lack of interest in the needs and the rights of other individuals, as such-is a challenge to which major thinkers feel called upon to respond. Plato does so at length in the Republic and the Symposium; Aristotle does so in his account of friendship (philia), in his Ethics; Hobbes does so in his response to the so-called "fool," in Chapter 15 of Leviathan; and Kant does so in his argument, in the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and elsewhere, that autonomy can only take the form of being guided by morality's Categorical Imperative. I am going to suggest in this paper that Hegel's response to the challenge of rational egoism extends throughout his philosophical system, beginning in his treatment of atomism in the Science of Logic's ("Logic") Doctrine of Being, continuing through his treatments of reflection and diversity in the Doctrine of Essence, and of Objectivity, Life, and Cognition, in the Doctrine of the Concept, and concluding in his famous account of Master and Bondsman and mutual recognition, in the Encyclopedias Philosophy of Spirit and the Phenomenology of Spirit.

The portion of Hegel's treatment of rational egoism that occurs within the Logic of the Subject (the Doctrine of the Concept)-namely, his account of Objectivity, Life, and Cognition-is extremely rich in its implications for this issue, implications that have not been appreciated in the commentaries with which I am familiar. And when one realizes that Hegel is, in fact, treating this issue in a systematic way throughout the Logic (as well as the Encyclopedia), this puts the Logic-and its culminating glory, the Doctrine of the Concept-in a whole new light. Among the numerous ways in which the Logics importance is still only beginning to become clear to us-others of which are, for example, its importance for theology and for the relation between nature and freedom-this is certainly a significant one.1

It may seem odd to suggest that Hegel offers an argument against rational egoism, since he is often described as simply denying that a position like egoism is even possible. Hegel is said to maintain that human individuals are simply creatures of their social environment to such an extent that it is just not logically possible for one individual to declare herself independent and adopt a purely exploitative attitude toward the people around her. However, the passages in which Hegel describes and diagnoses the origin of evil-...

If you are already a vLex customer, Access Here