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Jean Hyppolite, "Genesis and Structure of Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit" (SPEP)"

Summary: Good companion to reading the Phenomenology of Spirit

Rating: 5

Like the other reviewer of this book, I would not suggest this as a replacement to the reading of Hegel's Phenomenology. It is, rather, a good thing to read after you have worked through the Phenomenology on your own, or while you are studying it in a class. It is not really an introduction to Hegel, and shouldn't be read first. This is mainly because Hyppolite stays very close to the text of Hegel. Often, when you want him to just say what Hegel means in a passage, Hyppolite ends up saying something that amounts more to a paraphrase than a literal explication in simpler terms. That is fine, though, if what you are interested in is discussing this rich text on its own terms with someone who has clearly spent a lot of time with it and who knows the Hegelian corpus intimately. In his refusal to simply say what Hegel means in terms other than the ones Hegel employs (or rather: in terms other than Hyppolite's own French translations of Hegel's German terms, that are for this text translated into English), Hyppolite appears to be responding to his contemporary Kojeve, who does sometimes take Hegel too literally, and -- while his readings are always incredibly illuminating and persuasive -- appears to put too much weight on some of the early moves of Hegel's self-consciousness chapter while failing to appreciate its later developments.

You should go to Hyppolite as to a very intelligent companion, who has spent a lot of time with a text that you also are interested in, not as a first source of instruction. I would never suggest you use commentaries as a way into Hegel's text without at least beginning to grapple with the text on your own -- since it's too easy to find yourself trapped by the seeming obviousness of one way of reading the text -- but I know first hand that if you try to do this with Hyppolite you won't get too far. Better companion texts for a first read would be Charles Taylor's "Hegel" (which is not always accurate and precise, but is always clear and gives a good general take on the various stages of Hegel's book that helps you not to be totally lost in the details), and John Russon's "Reading Hegel's Phenomenology" (which has the advantage of consisting of several relatively independent chapters that can each be read on its own as a commentary on the various sections of Hegel's book, and which does an exceptional job connecting up the themes of each chapter with themes that each of us must grapple with in our everyday life).

Hyppolite does identify several of the historical and literary references that Hegel has in mind, and amplify and expand on points that Hegel touches on briefly, and that can help to clarify a preliminary understanding of the text. His text's real worth, however, can only be appreciated when you've spent some time grappling with Hegel's text on its own.

Summary: An exceptionally lucid exposition of the Phenomenology

Rating: 5

In his introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel himself says that " road can therefore be regarded as the pathway of doubt, or more precisely as the way of despair." Though Hegel didn't intend for that sentence to relate to reading the Phenomenology, I'm sure many readers felt that way while making their way through that nearly inpenetrable and poorly translated text. Despite initial appearances, the Phenomenology does make sense, and there is no better guide to Hegel's difficult thought that Jean Hyppolite's Genesis and Structure of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. Hyppolite looks at the Phenomenology section by section and illuminates and concretizes Hegel's thought without reducing it. I wouldn't substitute this book for an actual reading of the Phenomenology (though it would probably work), but rather suggest that this commentary be used as an introduction to Hegel's Phenomenology or read concurrently with it. Highly recommended.

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Rating:
2.5 out of 5 by Book123