Phenomenology and De Re Interpretation: A Critique of Brandom’s Reading of Hegel

Abstract

Brandom’s interpretation of Hegel in Tales of the Mighty Dead is subtle, tightly argued and hugely impressive. It takes no account, however, of Hegel’s distinctive conception of phenomenology and as a result – for all its subtlety – offers a somewhat distorted picture of Hegel. In the opening chapters of Hegel’s Phenomenology we learn that perception is committed as much to the unity of differences as to exclusive difference, that neither perception nor understanding is committed to holism as Brandom understands it, and that the understanding is not governed by the law of non‐contradiction but in fact understands the world to be a thoroughly contradictory place. All of this, however, gets lost sight of in Brandom’s de re interpretation of Hegel’s Phenomenology.