Ep. 8: Is There an END to History? (Hegel) - 8-Bit Philosophy
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0:10 - 0:12Is there an end to history?
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0:13 - 0:18Whereas most generally think
of history as a record of past events, -
0:18 - 0:21philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
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0:21 - 0:23considered it to be a rational process,
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0:23 - 0:26moving towards completion.
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0:26 - 0:28Make no mistake, by end of history,
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0:28 - 0:31Hegel wasn't prophesying the end of the world,
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0:31 - 0:35but to discover what he did mean we must first ask ourselves,
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0:35 - 0:37"What is history?"
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0:38 - 0:42According to Hegel, history is the progression of reason,
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0:42 - 0:46brought about largely by confrontation and conflict.
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0:49 - 0:53For example, if a group of rebels siege a castle,
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0:53 - 0:55we have two opposing forces,
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0:55 - 0:57the establishment and the challenger.
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0:57 - 1:01Through this conflict, the opposing ideologies will collide
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1:01 - 1:05and produce a new establishment.
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1:05 - 1:09Like the one before it, this idea will eventually
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1:09 - 1:11invite upheaval.
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1:11 - 1:16And the dialectical process, yielding
heightened rationality, will continue. -
1:18 - 1:21But such changes don't occur randomly.
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1:21 - 1:24To Hegel, history is pushed forward by freedom,
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1:24 - 1:27mankind's essential nature.
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1:28 - 1:31As history progresses, we become more self-conscious,
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1:31 - 1:33therefore, more rational.
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1:33 - 1:36And, therefore, more free.
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1:37 - 1:41For example, as a warrior gains more experience points,
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1:41 - 1:43he is granted more skills.
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1:43 - 1:46The more skills he gains, the more choices he has in combat.
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1:46 - 1:49And thus he is freer.
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1:49 - 1:53As the ages pass, we have become more free.
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1:53 - 1:57During the age of the Orient, only the ruler was free.
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1:58 - 2:00In ancient Greece, some were free.
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2:01 - 2:04And in Hegel's time, following the French Revolution,
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2:04 - 2:07it was thought that all should be free.
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2:07 - 2:09So if freedom is the end goal of history,
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2:09 - 2:14will there ever be a perfected state
that invites no more change? -
2:14 - 2:16An end to the dialectic?
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2:16 - 2:19In his book, The Phenomenology of Spirit,
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2:19 - 2:23Hegel devised the concept of "world spirit",
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2:23 - 2:27or the manifestation of reason
exhibited through a society's culture, -
2:27 - 2:31including its philosophy, religion, and art.
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2:32 - 2:36The ultimate freedom will occur when the world spirit,
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2:36 - 2:38or collective consciousness of a culture,
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2:38 - 2:40becomes entirely rational.
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2:44 - 2:48Only then can a unified society
be established in which its laws -
2:48 - 2:51and institutions will invite no more change
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2:51 - 2:55because they are in perfect harmony with their culture.
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2:55 - 3:00And, thus, the dialectical process of history will end.
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3:01 - 3:04Hegel's philosophy of history inspired some of the most
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3:04 - 3:07important thinkers of the 19th century,
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3:07 - 3:11including one young poet who would one day become
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3:11 - 3:14one one of the world's most influential figures.
- Title:
- Ep. 8: Is There an END to History? (Hegel) - 8-Bit Philosophy
- Description:
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Mankind's essential nature is as a SUBSCRIBER!
CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE: http://goo.gl/N4Fse9Welcome back to 8-Bit Philosophy, where gaming makes you smart.
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(Hegel: The Philosophy of History)Written & Directed by: Jared Bauer
Narrator: Nathan Lowe
Animation Producer: MB X. McClain
Original Music & Sound by: David Krystal (http://www.davidkrystalmusic.com)
Academic Consultant: Mia Wood
Producer & Additional Artwork by: Jacob S. Salamon© 2014 Napkin Note, LLC.
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 03:30
Armelle Sommier edited French subtitles for Ep. 8: Is There an END to History? (Hegel) - 8-Bit Philosophy |