Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology of Spirit

This collection of Kojeve's thoughts about Hegel constitutes one of the few important philosophical books of the twentieth century-a book, knowledge of which is requisite to the full awareness of our situation and to the grasp of the most modern perspective on the eternal questions of philosophy.-Allan Bloom (from his introduction) During the years 19331939, the Russian-born and German-educated Marxist political philosopher Alexandre Kojève (19021968) brilliantly explicated-through a series of lectures-the philosophy of Hegel as it was developed in the Phenomenology of Spirit. This collection of lectures-originally compiled by Raymond Queneau and edited for its English-language translation by Allan Bloom-shows the intensity of Kojève's study and thought and the depth of his insight into Hegel's Phenomenology. More important-for Kojève was above all a philosopher and not an ideologue-this profound and venturesome work on Hegel will expose the readers to the excitement of discovering a great mind in all its force and power. Table of Contents: 1. In Place of an Introduction 2. Summary of the First Six Chapters of the Phenomenology of Spirit Complete Text of the First Three Lectures of the Academic Year 19371938 3. Summary of the Course in 19371938 Excerpt from the 19381939 Annuaire of the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences religieuses 4. Philosophy and Wisdom Complete Text of the First Two Lectures of the Academic Year 19381939 5. A Note on Eternity, Time, and the Concept Complete Text of the Sixth through Eighth Lectures of the Academic Year 19381939 6. Interpretation of the Third Part of Chapter VIII of the Phenomenology of Spirit (conclusion) Complete Text of the Twelfth Lecture of the Academic Year 19381939 7. The Dialectic of the Real and the Phenomenological Method in Hegel Complete Text of the Sixth through Ninth Lectures of the Academic Year 1934-1935 Appendix The Structure of the Phenomenology of Spirit