Ferrarin Alfredo. Hegel and Aristotle

Cambridge University Press, 2004. — 466 p. — (Modern European Philosophy). — ISBN: 0-511-01811-8.Hegel is, arguably, the most difficult of all philosophers. To find a way through his thought, interpreters have usually approached him as though he were developing Kantian and Fichtean themes. This book is the first to demonstrate in a systematic way that it makes much more sense to view Hegel’s idealism in relation to the metaphysical and epistemological tradition stemming from Aristotle.
This book offers an account of Hegel’s idealism and in particular his notions of reason, subjectivity, and teleology, in light of Hegel’s interpretation, discussion, assimilation, and critique of Aristotle’s philosophy. It is the first systematic analysis comparing Hegelian and Aristotelian views of system and history; being, metaphysics, logic, and truth; nature and subjectivity; spirit, knowledge, and self-knowledge; ethics and politics. In addition, Hegel’s conception of Aristotle’s philosophy is contrasted with alternative conceptions typical of his time and ours.
No serious student of Hegel can afford to ignore this major new interpretation. Moreover, because it investigates with enormous erudition the relation between two giants of the Western philosophical tradition, this book will speak to a wider community of readers in such fields as history of philosophy and history of Aristotelianism, metaphysics and logic, philosophy of nature, psychology, ethics, and political science.
Alfredo Ferrarin is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Boston University.