From Hegel to Marx: the transformation of philosophy from reason to Revolution (Part-I)
Reviewing famous work of Philosopher Herbert Marcuse
Marcuse, H. (1960). Reason and revolution: Hegel and the rise of social theory. Boston: Beacon Press.
Background
It was the struggle between the negative (Hegelian) and positive philosophy (Post-Hegelian) that gave birth to the discourse of social theory in Europe. On the contrary, in some context especially the context of misinterpretation of Hegelian philosophy gave rise to fascism and Nazism in Europe. Moreover, it was Fascism that created a rift between the philosophers, some of whom sided with Hegel while others went against him.
Introduction
1. The socio-Historical setting
Basically, the German idealism is often called as the theory of French philosophy because famous German philosophers such Kant, Fichte, Schelling and Hegel wrote their response to French revolution and revolutionary wars by suggesting that state and society must be recognized on rational basis especially with the freedom and interest of the individuals. The European philosophers called the French revolution as the dawn of new era in the history of Europe. Moreover, the ideals of French revolution were recognized within the conceptual framework and structure by the continental philosophers of that time.[1] Basically, the French Revolution gave birth to the new era in the following way:
1. It ended absolutism
2. It ended harsh Feudal structure
3. It gave birth to new economic model and rise of new middle class
4. It paved the way for the reformation across European continent
Within span of decades, the ideals of the French revolution made themselves compatible with the Industrial capitalism. In France, it was Saint Simon who had exalted industries as the sole power that could lead mankind to a free and rational society. However, as compared to France and Great Britain, Germany lagged behind in industrial development because it was hard for the scattered demography to contemplate revolution like the one in France. Moreover, at that time the whole German idealism was preoccupied with its own idea but there was no contemplation of the revolution. [2] For Hegel, the whole course of the human history deals with reason and reason alone and the very essence of the state is the realization of reason. The leaders of Jacobins, William Robespierre deified reason as ‘Estre Supreme’ which later became the counterpart to the Hegelian glorification of reason.
For instance, Hegelian structural concepts such as freedom, subject, mind, and notion, all are derived from reason and reason alone. The revolution demanded; nothing will be accepted to the constitution except those of the reason. While celebrating and elaborating the triumph of the French revolution, Hegel said:
“It is the human thought that can govern the spiritual reality. This the glorious mental dawn. All thinking beings shared the jubilation of the epoch”. (Excerpts from the lectures on the Philosophy of history)
According to Hegel, the most decisive turn that took place in the human history was the French revolution when the men came to rely on reason and dare to submit the standards of the reason. Before the French revolution, the reality was according to the existing order and prevailing values. For the philosophers, we must subject everything to the highest standards of reason in order to deduce reality. It is because, most of us still today rely on the ‘unreasonable realties’ — in this regard, the French revolution declared that thought is ought to govern reality. But among philosophers, Hegel in the context of western philosophy calls reason as totality.
For Hegel, it is the power of reason that can propagate a powerful glorious revolution. Basically, it is the virtue of power of reason through which we can overthrow the oppressors of mankind. What Hegel once said: “All fictions will disappear before truth and all follies fall before reason”. In contrast, in the view of Hegel, reason could not govern reality until reality has become rational itself. In this way, irrationality can be subordinated by thoroughly overhauling the content of nature and history. The objective is thus nothing but the realization of the subject, the subject that goes through the content of nature and history. Hegel also gave the concept of substance as a subject that refers to the fact that all beings contain certain contradictory forces in itself. [3] The subject further carries some inherent contradictions e.g. Stone; a stone is a stone, when it remains stone, it resists axe, it gets wet in remain, and if it remains stone both in action and reaction, that means, it is the continuous process of becoming and being stone.
But the process of becoming is not subject because the stone has changed in its different interaction with rain, axe and load, but it does not changed itself. But the fact cannot be denied that the concept of ‘true subject’ only lies within the existence of men. Because man alone has the power of self-realization — he is not influenced by the external forces in the process of becoming — because it has the power to be self-determining subject in the process of becoming. His very existence is the actualization of his potentialities of molding his life according to the notions of reason — one of the most important categories of reason here is freedom. Freedom means the power to act in accordance with the knowledge of truth, then the power shapes the reality in the line with potentialities. Basically, the fulfillment of these ends only belongs to the ‘true subject’, who is the master of his own development, who understands his own potentialities and the potentialities of things around him.
Both plants and stone lack the comprehending knowledge because only humans have this knowledge. Here the lack of comprehending knowledge means they lack the subjectivity. In this regard, it can be said that reason and freedom are nothing without comprehending knowledge. Whereas, freedom is the existence of subject while reason is the realization that ceases it to exist while subject in itself is a subject because all types of beings as the ‘Comprehensive subjects’ deals with reason via freedom — Reason is essentially a historical force.
The famous German word ‘Geist’ designates reason as ‘History is mind’, which denotes history in relation with the relational progress of the mankind. Basically, history is divided into different periods and each period marked different levels of development with the representation of the stages of realization of reason. Likewise, each development marks reason in accordance with the level of freedom. The immediate union of reason and reality has never existed throughout the history of mankind because the unity can only be achieved through a lengthy process that begins with the lowest level of nature and reaches to the highest level of existence, by acting free according to potentialities. Moreover, the preliminary form of state does not exists or real because it does not act in accordance with reason.
Hegel does not accept this because the ‘Spirit’ of contradiction is central force in the Hegelian dialectical method. In the latter context, the God of the earth must disappear in order to invent the true God. Likewise, for Hegel, the owl of minevera will not spread his wings and fly without the realization of freedom and reason. In this regard, both religion and politics have played the same role throughout the history. Both has taught, what despotism want to teach, contempt for humanity and the incapacity of man to achieve good and to fulfill his essence through his own efforts — perhaps, both have bound human reason and freedom.
On the contrary, Hegel believed that the realization of reason requires a social scheme to contrivance the existing order. Moreover, the state cannot be called as an idea unless it is the object of freedom — if the state is bound to treat free man as a cog in the machine then it must disappear and perish. In contrast, it is a fact that the reality changes within the conceptual structure of Hegelian system. Similarly, the conceptual structure of German idealism is centered within the principles of Liberal system of government and prevents any crossing beyond it.
Hegel declared in the opening pages of his pamphlet on the German constitution (1802) that the German state of the last decade was no longer a state. Perhaps, it is the Feudal despotism that has split into multitude of petty despotism each competing with other. Likewise, Hegel while describing the decaying days of German Reich by refereeing to the strong censorship operating to repress the slightest trace of enlightenment said: “Without law and justice, without protection from the arbitrary taxation, uncertain of the lives of our sons, and of our freedom and rights, the important prey of despotic power, our existence lacking unity and national spirit…this is the status quo of our nation.”
At the time, both Germany and France had no strong politically conscious educated middle class to lead the struggle against absolutism — the nobility ruled without opposition. During this time, someone in Germany hardly remarked Goethe; “thought of envying this tremendous privileged mass or of begrudging them their happy advantage”. Soon after the German reformation, the people became aware that liberty has internal value, which was compatible with every form of bondage.[4] Social reality becomes indifferent as far as the true essence of man is concerned because man always searches within himself for the potentialities and life fulfillment.
[1] The world was to be the order of reason — men’s mode of labor and enjoyment was now dependent upon his own rational activity.
[2] Moreover, the fact cannot be denied that the concept of reason was central to the Hegelian philosophy. For Hegel, the French revolution was nothing but triumph of reason over absolutism.
[3] In the Hegelian discourse, subject also refers not only to the epistemological ego or consciousness but also the mode of existence.
[4] Hegel’s early philosophical concepts were preserved and formulated during the decaying days of German Reich.
