Date of Award

4-2024

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Philosophy

First Advisor

James Martin, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Brian C. Wilson, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Matthew Shockey, Ph.D.

Fourth Advisor

David Paul, M.A.

Keywords

American frontier, Hegel, philosophy of history, philosophy of nature, world history

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

The philosophy of history developed by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel incorporates the systematicity and speculative rationalizations that characterize his other major philosophical endeavors. Despite this, far less investigative work has been directed toward the contemporary applicability of Hegel’s philosophy of history than has been for his other major projects. Considering scholars’ much-diminished interest in speculative, overarching accounts of world history, this is not particularly surprising. Given, however, that the concept of rational historical progress is central to Hegel’s system, the contemporary applicability of the Hegelian conception of history seems to be a matter of significant importance. Can the methodology that Hegel employs to analyze history be applied to historical developments that lie outside of the scope of Hegel’s own historical sketch? Or, on the contrary, is Hegel’s philosophical trace of history an inflexible and brittle just-so story that only fits the exact details that Hegel supplies? Taking the American frontier as one such historical development posterior to Hegel’s account, this thesis demonstrates that the methodology employed by Hegel in his philosophy of history is applicable to analyses of subsequent, substantive developments in world history.

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