Freedom and Independence：A Study of the Political Ideas of Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind (Cambridge Studies in the History and Theory of Politics)

Originallypublishedin1976,thisbookwaswrittenspecificallytoguidestudentsofpoliticaltheorywhowanttounderstandHegel'spoliticalideasastheyappearinThePhenomenologyofMind.ProfessorShklar'scommentaryusesplainlanguageandEnglishtranslationsofreferenceswhereverpossible.ThecoreofHegel'sargumentisthatfreedomistheidentityofthepersonalgoalsofindividualcitizensandthepublicendsofthepolityasawhole.Thisisadynamicprocess,inwhichalllawsarecreatedbyeachandall,andinturnexpressedandrealisedinthemindsandactionsofeverymemberofsociety.ThetextemphasisesHegel'scriticismofeverytypeofsubjectivity.ThefailuretorecognisetheculturalcharacterofallexperienceisthecoreofHegel'scriticalreviewofallpastphilosophy,andledhimtodevelophisowntheoryofhistoryandofknowledgeasretrospectivethinking.