Overview

A powerful exploration of how Hegel's ideas about freedom can speak to social injustice today. One might be forgiven for feeling that the philosophical tradition, notoriously replete with seemingly aloof and problematic men like Hegel, has little to offer contemporary conversations about justice. Yet for Shannon Hoff, Hegel's ideas about freedom in particular contain vital resources for efforts to redress racism, sexism, colonialism, ableism, and capitalism today. In How to Read Hegel Now, Hoff rereads the German philosopher alongside our most compelling thinkers about how oppression disavows our common humanity, including Frantz Fanon, Jessica Benjamin, Saba Mahmood, la paperson, Jean-Paul Sartre, Georges Canguilhem, and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson. Along the way, Hoff recovers in Hegel a new vision for human freedom that challenges the heritage of modern liberalism he helped to construct.

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9780226847078

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Reviews

“How to Read Hegel Now compellingly reclaims Hegel’s philosophy in the name of contemporary social justice. In prose both beautiful and accessible, Hoff deftly enlists Hegel as a powerful ally for today’s progressives in the fight for a better tomorrow. Her book overflows with clearly expressed insights that will speak to everyone from educated lay readers to the most seasoned scholars of German idealism. How to Read Hegel Now rekindles the Hegelian flame to illuminate our present dark times, showing us both what problems truly matter and possible paths beyond them.” -- Adrian Johnston, University of New Mexico “Hoff has written a book that is not only timely and informative but necessary, as few books are. She explores the Hegelian roots of modern thinkers of liberation, cuts away metaphysical interpretations that have encrusted understandings of Hegel’s thought for centuries, and shows how Hegel helps us understand what it means to live in a world made by others. Clear and reliable, this book is a vital resource for anyone seeking to navigate our times.” -- John McCumber, University of California, Los Angeles

Author Information

Shannon Hoff is professor of philosophy at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is author of The Laws of the Spirit: A Hegelian Theory of Justice.

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