The death of Hegel and the spirit of Hegelianism. Preface to the “final chapter” of the History of the universal spirit

Abstract

Hegel's death is frequently taken by interpreters as the event that marks the end of metaphysics. What is generally assumed with it is not only a certain periodization of the history of philosophy, but also a very determined interpretation of its "end" as exhaustion of something that has reached the end of its forces and vanishes as something expired and obsolete. But if this is so, how can we explain then the constant upsurges of Hegelianism throughout the s. XX? Are they the latest appearances of a shadow from the past that is last seen before fading away entirely? Or are they rather the manifestations of a living spirit that refuses to be buried like a "dead dog"? Is Hegel's death truly like the one of the dog, or rather like the one of the spirit that looks death in the eye and emerges renewed through it? Are the various reactions against Hegel that occur throughout post-metaphysical thought the clear historical expression of a new philosophical consciousness that has managed to break the link with metaphysics, or are they rather the symptom of a new alienation of the spirit destined to write a new chapter of universal history? The objective of this article is to highlight Hegelianism as the decisive and final moment of the spirit deployment on the path to the universal self-consciousness.