Sur la réappropriation hégélienne du scepticisme dans les oeuvres de Iéna (1801-1807) : le laboratoire de Hegel
This study is an attempt to reconstruct the conceptual genesis of the Hegelian conception of skepticism in his early Jena writings, between 1801 and 1807 when Hegel first started his academic career as a Privatdozent. In the Introduction of the Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel puts forward a direct correlation between the phenomenological pathway and a certain kind of skepticism. However, the German thinker does not go any further in the description of this link between skepticism and his idealist philosophy, which at first glance does not seem to be self-obvious, especially considering the strong reputation of Hegel as a dogmatic thinker. To better understand the reasons that led Hegel to claim that his philosophy inherits, at least partially, from the skeptical tradition, we consider that the Hegelian use of skepticism must be recontextualized inside the theoretical debates of his first published texts where the term “skepticism” appears for the first time in his work. By examining the intellectual development of the young Hegel, we aim to show that the Hegelian appropriation of skepticism, even if it originates from polemical motivations, is the strongest expression of what the idealist thinker calls “the logic of understanding”. In that sense, skepticism is not only of crucial importance for the understanding of Hegel’s concept of “negativity”, but it also betrays on many regards the sprout of a genuine thought of anxiety or unrest (Unruhe).
G. W. F. Hegel Désunion (Entzweiung) Skepticism Jena History of german philosophy Negativity Understanding Unrest (Unruhe) Dichotomy (Entzweiung) Subjectivity Antinomy