Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts by HEGEL, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich - 1821

The State as Perfect Organization. First Edition with Additional Title-Page HEGEL, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich. Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts. Berlin: In der Nicolaischen Buchhandlung, 1821. First edition. Octavo (7 11/16 x 4 13/16 inches; 196 x 123 mm). [2], xxvi, 355, [1, printerís imprint] pp. With the additional title page: "Naturrecht und Staatswissenschaft im Grundrisse. Zum Gebrauch f¸r seine Vorlesungen". Leaf ** bound on a stub? Contemporary marbled paper over boards. Spine with paper label, printing rubbed off. Boards rubbed and chipped, mainly along edges and at head and tail of the spine. Very small early ink signature on title page. Pages lightly browned. No rear free endpaper. Overall, an excellent, clean copy. ìThe Grundlinien deals with [moral and political philosophy], and is a complete system, in which the concept of a sociology dominated by the idea of the State is laid down. It turns away from the apparent chaos of the democratic advocates of individual right in favour of an overwhelming sense that liberty cannot exist apart from order, and that the vital connexion of all parts of the body politic is the source of all good. As the family is, without contract, the instinctive realization of the moral life, so, equally without contract, the State is the fullest expression of the moral spirit, where interdependence is combined with free will. The State is the perfection of man as a finite entity, whence the spirit moves into the absolute existence of art, religion and philosophy. Taken apart from the rest of his system, Hegelís political philosophy has been much misrepresented by totalitarian propagandists. He was, however, one of the most profound and intellectual thinkers of the nineteenth century. Theology, philosophy, political theory, all have been radically influenced by his systemî (Printing and the Mind of Man). This is the most important work of political philosophy before Marx, whose work is explicitly constructed as a reaction to Hegel. Borst 1361. Printing and the Mind of Man 283. HBS 67890. $2,750