Description: This is a study of the rise of Hegelian thought throughout the intellectual world and in Germany in the first half of the nineteenth century. The book has three interrelated purposes. First, it constitutes the first synthetic description and comprehensive reconstruction of the historical genesis and humanist transformation of Hegelian ideology. Secondly, the study addresses the problem of recurrent patterns of hope and disillusionment in the successive phases of dialectical thought. Finally, the book is concerned with ideological responses to the experience of communal and religious disintegration.
Review Quotes: 'Hegelianism is a rich, complex and ambitious book which can be considered from several viewpoints ... an impressive scholarly achievement which succeeds at most of the levels which it tackles ... The range of problems and the number of thinkers discussed in the book are remarkable, and the use of first-hand sources and general scholarship are exceptional.' The Times Higher Education Supplement