2018 Volume 42 Pages 54-74
The purpose of this paper is to examine on the whole Hegel’s thought of ‘Ethical Life’ developed in the Jena Lectures on the Philosophy of Spirit (1805-6) in terms of his response to Rousseau’s theory of the State.
Although Rousseau indicated the principle of State to harmonize obedience with liberty, he did not indicate an adequate solution of how to solve the disagreement with the general will and the particular will in the actual “man”.
Hegel succeeded Rousseau’s idea of “autonomy” which is the same as “community” that to obey general will is to obey one’s will. However, Hegel comprehended “constitution of the general will” not as social contract, but as the process to actualize mutual recognition through laws and institutions. In this case, Rousseau’s logic of “alienation” is transformed to the logic of “education or building”. Individuals who cultivated themselves recognize that it is possible for them to exist as free person only in the being-recognized among others which is based on laws and institutions. This recognition leads themselves to foster an attitude to pursue the public interests. By correlatively comprehending the process to actualize mutual recognition through institutions and the process of individual’s building, Hegel could indicate the logic to mediate the individual and the general will, which Rousseau could not do.
