Nicolai Hartmann’s Interpretation of Hegel’s Dialectics
Abstract
This paper addresses Nicolai Hartmann’s interpretation of Hegel’s dialectics with special focus on what Hartmann calls “real dialectics,” and it is divided into three parts. The first is a concise presentation of Hartmann’s interpretation of Hegel in its historical context and its main historiographical goals, emphasising its independence compared to some contemporary readings, e.g. Wilhelm Dilthey and the Neo-Hegelianism. The second is a focus on Hartmann’s interpretation of the relationship between Aristotle and Hegel, a fundamental step towards grasping Hartmann’s understanding of Hegel’s “real dialectics.” Here in particular, it is the meaning of “concept” and the close intellectual proximity between Aristotelian aporetics and Hegelian “real dialectics” that relates the two philosophers. The third is an account of what Hartmann considers to be Hegel’s “real dialectics,” the relationship between the latter and Hegel’s Erfahrung are examined, also to bring out in conclusion all those aspects of the Hegelian “dialectics” that Hartmann considers still relevant.
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