'The Most Difficult Philosopher' 4,000 Pages of Early Hegel Manuscripts Discovered

Discovery of Early Texts Including Hegel's First Aesthetics Lecture in Germany
Reveals Early Views on Art, Freedom, and Shakespeare
The Guardian Calls It a "Massive Treasure Trove" That Could Change Perceptions of Hegel

Scenery of Heidelberg, Germany. Photo by Pixabay

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Sung-wook] Approximately 4,000 pages of documents containing the early thoughts of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770?1831), the founding father of modern philosophy who is credited with completing German idealism, have been newly discovered.

On the 29th (local time), The Guardian reported, "A vast treasure trove that could change the perception of one of the key figures in modern Western philosophy has been found." According to The Guardian, Professor Klaus Piebeck of Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Germany recently discovered a large collection of lecture manuscripts from Hegel’s Heidelberg period, including one of the earliest manuscripts of his aesthetics lectures, at the library of the Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

Since Hegel’s philosophical concepts are based on his Berlin lectures, these manuscripts are expected to play an important role in studying Hegel’s early thoughts. Professor Piebeck described the discovery as "comparable to finding new Beethoven scores or paintings by Constable that had never been seen before." Professor Christian Illies of the University of Bamberg said, "Hegel first gave aesthetics lectures in Heidelberg, and his views had changed significantly by the time he lectured in Berlin. This is the first time that his Heidelberg lecture manuscripts have been found."

The manuscripts are known to have been gifted by one of Hegel’s disciples to the philosopher Karl Joseph Hieronymus Vintischmann, a friend of Hegel. They are believed to have been preserved in this library along with records left by Vintischmann’s son, Friedrich Vintischmann, a Catholic theology professor. Professor Piebeck said, "They provide clues to understanding how Hegel formed his philosophy of beauty and art and his influential aesthetic concepts, as well as how he analyzed Shakespeare’s works to develop his ideas."

Art as a Beautiful Intermediate Realm Between Thought and Reality

In particular, Hegel’s early views on the definition of art are revealed. Professor Piebeck said, "This text shows that Hegel defined art as a beautiful intermediate realm between thought and reality," adding, "He proposed that the proper function of art is the harmony between abstraction and reality." It is also reported to discuss a wide range of topics including Aristotle’s Poetics, Sophocles’ Antigone, Aristophanes’ comedies, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Goethe, and Friedrich Schiller’s play The Robbers.

It has also been revealed that the manuscripts mention the concept of freedom, one of the core ideas in Hegel’s philosophy. Professor Piebeck said, "The first page deals with the central theme of freedom, and the last page also reflects on freedom," adding, "The manuscript ends by focusing on 'self,' 'individual freedom,' and what is depicted within art. This contributes to the idea that art is undoubtedly very important in our lives today and that education leads to freedom."

Hegel’s philosophy is known as one of the most difficult to understand. British philosopher Bertrand Russell once referred to Hegel as "one of the greatest philosophers who is the hardest to comprehend." The newly discovered manuscripts will be edited with annotations by an international research team led by Professors Piebeck and Illies and published as a book in the future.