Hegel, Pantheism, and Spinoza

Abstract

Hegel's acquaintance with the philosophy of Spinoza was of long standing.' Soon after he went to Jena, the first collected edition of Spinoza's works was published there 1802-03. The editor was Paulus, the professor of theology, and Hegel informs us (GP 3, 371) that he collaborated with Paulus the preparation of the edition. This means that, relatively early his philosophical career, Hegel was brought into close contact with Spinoza's doctrines. They evidently made a considerable impression on him, and are discussed at length the Wissenschaft der Logik, Part I of the Encyclopaedia, and the lectures on the philosophy of religion and on the history of philosophy. This is not to say that Hegel had a deep and scholarly knowledge of Spinoza. Paulus' edition was not a good one-indeed, it failed to meet the most elementary critical standards2-and it appears that Hegel's part the work was only a modest one.3 Yet it remains true that he valued highly what he understood, or thought he understood, of Spinozism, which he declared (GP 3, 376) to be in essence, the beginning of all philosophizing. A study of Hegel's criticisms of Spinoza can therefore be helpful to the student of Hegel, that Hegel's own doctrines, which themselves may seem formidably abstract, are given a concrete manifestation these criticisms. Such a study is also valuable to the student of Spinoza. Hegel may not always provide the Spinoza scholar with satisfactory answers to problems of interpretation, but his objections to Spinoza are shrewd, and it is important to see if they are fair. When Hegel discusses Spinoza, the issue of his supposed pantheism