Non-Buddhism

Introduction to G. W. F. Hegel’s Science of Logic

with Hannes Schumacher

Dates: Four Saturdays: September 14, 21, 28, October 5, 2024
Time: 12-2 PM (Eastern, US Time)
(See time zone converter if you’re in a different location.)
Cost: Four options:
(i) $80 for non-members
(ii) $64 for Incite Seminars members (become a member!)
(iii) Donation of your choice, including no cost solidarity ticket if you cannot afford to pay at this time (please email us requesting this option; no need for explanation, no questions asked: inciteseminarsphila@gmail.com).
Registration at bottom of this page.

SEMINAR DESCRIPTION

What a big name! What a big fish! Certainly, you will have heard about this gloomy-looking mastermind of the 19th century. Ever heard about the end of history? Sure, that was Hegel. Ever heard about the tripartite dialectics of thesis, antithesis, synthesis? Sure, that was Hegel. But if you have a look at Hegel’s actual text, it is surprising how little of these myths, which are endlessly recycled and retweeted, is actually expressed by Hegel himself. You might even get the suspect feeling that the great professors who invoke them never read Hegel themselves.

Is it that difficult???

Not quite. It’s just not the kind of literature to recommend your mother for her bedtime reading. After I had studied Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit at the university, I went on to read the Science of Logic by myself and was surprised at how well written and clear it was. Following my experience, the only point when reading Hegel, is to really keep it slooow.

In this seminar, we’ll dive into Hegel’s monumental work and ask ourselves what it might mean for us today. Is it propaganda of the Prussian state or weird hermetic mysticism? Is it a grotesque monster of the past or a hypercomplex algorithm that will be understood one day by future generations?

Beginners welcome! Adepts too!

Facilitator: Having lived and studied all around the world, Hannes Schumacher works in European and Asian philosophies focusing on their various intersections in terms of metaphysics, logic and religion. He completed his MA in Berlin with a thesis on Hegel and Deleuze, and he also published widely on Nishida, Nagarjuna, chaos theory, and global mysticism. Hannes is the founder of the Berlin-based publisher Freigeist Verlag and co-founder of the grassroots art space Chaosmos∞ in Athens, Greece.

Too much has been said and written about Hegel; the point is to read him.

Primary literature (relevant sections of the text will be made available and shared during the seminar):

G. W. F. Hegel, The Science of Logic, trans. George Di Giovanni (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010).

G. W. F. Hegel, Hegel’s Science of Logic, trans. A. V. Miller (New York: Humanity Books, 1969).

Recommended literature: Jon Stewart (ed.), The Hegel Myths and Legends (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1996)

REGISTRATION

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Member discount: $64.

Non-Member: $80 (become a member.)

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