WHY, ACCORDING TO HAGEL, DOES THE ATTEMPT TO REALISE ABSOLUTE FREEDOM Essay

WHY, ACCORDING TO HAGEL, DOES THE ATTEMPT TO REALISE ABSOLUTE FREEDOM BRING ABOUT ITS OPPOSITE(absolute tyranny) TO what extent do you agree with Hagel - Essay Example One reason for Hegel’s concern with dialectics was because two of the philosophers he respected immensely, Hobbes and Rousseau, had contradictory ideas concerning the nature of freedom. To Hegel, the idea of absolute freedom could only lead to tyranny, and he was in agreement with Hobbes and his work from The Leviathan, which stated that people needed society because otherwise they would more or less destroy each other. This is part of the â€Å"utter indifference toward death that Hegel saw as the hallmark of the terror† (Schmidt 4). Of course, with any ideas that Hegel worked with, the concept of freedom was multifaceted and complex, and it is necessary to discuss the many different aspects of freedom in order to fully comprehend the ways in which absolute freedom would lead to tyranny. This tyranny, witnessed as a result of the French Revolution, was the part of Rousseau’s philosophy that he attempted to contradict: â€Å"Hegel believed that Rousseau’s political philosophy was fundamentally misconceived because it sought to transpose to the state much the same ideal of individual self-sufficiency as was ascribed to uncultured peoples and to an education concerned in accordance with nature† (Wokler 35). Once all of Hegel’s conceptions of freedom have been discussed, we can see how Hegel’s conception of absolute freedom truly would lead to its opposite, tyranny, because, as Hegel says, â€Å"The sole and only work and deed accomplished by universal freedom is therefore deathâ €  (Absolute). The first conception of freedom that needs to be discussed is natural freedom. This is what we find people in their natural state; to be able to choose to determine one’s own self: â€Å"When a man is so self-determined but the only content of his will the only source of his determinations - are his impulses, appetites and desires, he has what Hegel calls an immediate or natural

The Gettysburg Address Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Gettysburg Address - Essay Example They constituted the last line of defense between Lee and the Union capital of Washington D.C. On the third day, the Confederate Army’s frontal assault was repulsed and the Battle of Gettysburg was won by the Union forces. This was the only battle waged in the North and resulted in 23,000 causalities for the Union Army. The Confederates lost 28,000 (BookRags Web site). In the aftermath of the battle, the dead lay unburied, or were hastily bundled into makeshift graves in the fields. Pennsylvania’s Governor, Andrew Curtin, commissioned a reputed local Attorney, David Wills, to purchase land to serve as an appropriate cemetery for the Union dead. This resulted in the acquisition of the 17 acres of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. While the work of reinterring the Union dead from the field graves to the cemetery was still in progress, the cemetery was formally dedicated on 19 November, 1863. At present, the cemetery is home to over 6,000 American service men who died in t he Civil War, Spanish-American War, the World Wars and the Vietnam War (Gettysburg.com Web site). On 19 November, 1863, President Lincoln, members of his Cabinet, Governors of the Northern States and Civil and Military Officials gathered at Gettysburg, along with a crowd of about 15,000 citizens. A crude platform had been constructed on the battlefield, with journalists seated on one side and the dignitaries on the other. The keynote speaker at the dedication ceremony was Edward Everett from Massachusetts, an ardent Unionist and renowned Orator, who was considered one of the best speakers of the time.