Meaning of ‘rational’ and ‘real’ in Preface(Vorrede) of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right – In loving memory of the late Professor Im-soo Yoo (1942.11.18.-2021.12.11) (2021.12)
- Author : Choi Chi won
- Publication : Zeitschrift der Koreanisch-Deutschen Gesellschaft fuer Sozialwissenschaften
- Publisher : Koreanisch-Deutsche Gesellschaft Fuer Sozialwissenschaften(K-G Association For Social Sciences)
- Volume : 31(4)
- Date : December, 2021
Abstract: ‘What is rational is real; and what is real is rational’ – This phrase appears in ‘Preface(Vorrede)’ of Hegel’s ‘Elements of the Philosophy of Right.’ Because of its complexity in meaning it is the subject of much debate; there is critics for example that the conservative and reactionary Prussian state existing as a ‘real thing’ was not a ‘rational’ one. However, Hegel’s words need to be understood as his own philosophical position to the world in order to open a new horizon to understand the newly changed political and social reality after European revolutions. For Hegel, what was important was the world ‘grasped in reality(Substanz).’ Thus, his statement of position contains not only aspects of the historical reality of the French Revolution and the British Industrial Revolution but also those of critical reflections on the Enlightenment and classical economic theories, including the theory of natural rights. Philosophy becomes ‘science(Wissenschaft)’ in the re-establishment of the relationship between philosophy and reality. In short, in ’science’, reality is ‘rational’ because it does not exist in a person’s ‘special thought(Meinen)’, and also ‘real’ because it exists by specific historical processes. At the same time, philosophy is ‘real’ because it grasps reality as this world, not the otherworld that does not exist, and also ‘rational’ because it grasps reality in the rational form of a concept.