PHIL 414: HEGEL AND HONNETH ON FREEDOM

Mark Alznauer
FALL 2016
Location: Kresge 3-438
Time: TuTh 2-3:20pm
Office hours: W 12:30-2:30

CLASS DESCRIPTION: In this course, we will read and discuss two major works on the
institutional basis of modern freedom. The first is Hegel's classic work: Elements of the Philosophy of
Right (1821). The second is a recent book by one of the foremost contemporary philosophers in the
critical theory tradition that is directly patterned on Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Axel Honneth's
Freedom's Right: The Social Foundations of Democratic Life (2011). The course is designed to explore the
parallels and differences between these two accounts of the social conditions that must be met in
order for freedom to be fully realized. At the end of Week 7, Honneth himself will be coming to
Northwestern to participate in a discussion of his book.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: To understand the basic tenets of Hegel’s and Honneth’s political and
social theory.

TEACHING METHOD: Seminar.

EVALUATION METHOD: One long term paper (13-15pp), due on 11/22: 80%.* A class
presentation: 10%. Participation in discussion: 10%. *Students may request to write two shorter papers
instead, the first paper due on 10/25 the second on 11/22 (6-8pp each).

READING LIST:

Required:

ELEMENTS OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF RIGHT

G. W. F. HEGEL
Translated by H. B. Nisbet
Edited by Allen W. Wood
Cambridge University Press, 1991
0-521-34888-9

FREEDOM’S RIGHT
AXEL HONNETH
Translated by Joseph Ganahl
Columbia University Press, 2014.
978-0-231-16246-3

Optional:

THE PATHOLOGIES OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM

AXEL HONNETH
Translated by Ladislaus Löb
Princeton University Press, 2001
 978-0-691-11806-2

HEGEL’S PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM

PAUL FRANCO
Yale University Press, 1999.
0-300-09322-5

FOUNDATIONS OF HEGEL’S SOCIAL THEORY

FREDERICK NEUHOUSER
Harvard University Press, 2000
0-674-01124-4

HEGEL’S PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY

ROBERT B. PIPPIN
Cambridge University Press. 2008
978-0-521-72872-0

Some Important Reviews (in English) of Freedom’s Right:

1. Simone Chambers (Toronto) in Ethics:

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/683492
2. Terry Pinkard (Georgetown) in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews:
http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/53335-freedom-s-right-the-social-foundations-of-democratic-life/
3. Robert Pippin (Chicago) in Philosophy and Social Criticism:
http://psc.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/08/04/0191453714541586.full.pdf
4. Rutger Claassen (Utrecht) in Constellations: http://www.rutgerclaassen.nl/wp-
content/uploads/2011/02/Claassen-Social-freedom-and-Demands-of-Justice-pre-print.pdf

SCHEDULE:

Week 1:
Tu (9/20): Introduction to the class; Freedom’s Right (Introduction, pp. 1-11).
Th (9/22): Philosophy of Right (Preface, pp. 9-23).

Week 2:
Tu (9/27): Philosophy of Right (Introduction, §1-10)
Th (9/29): Philosophy of Right (Introduction, §11-33)

Week 3:
Tu (10/4): Freedom’s Right (Chapters 1 & 2, pp. 13-42)
Th (10/6): Freedom’s Right (Chapter 3, pp. 42-67)

Week 4:
Tu (10/11): Philosophy of Right (‘Abstract Right’, §34-§71)
Th (10/13): Philosophy of Right (‘Abstract Right’, §72-§104)

Week 5:
Tu (10/18): Freedom’s Right (Chapter 4, pp. 71-94)
Th (10/20): Philosophy of Right (‘Morality’, §105-§138)

Week 6:
Tu (10/25): Philosophy of Right (‘Morality’ and transition to ‘Ethical Life’, §139-§157)
Th (10/27): Freedom’s Right (Chapter 5 and transition to 6, pp. 95-130)

Week 7:
Tu (11/1): Philosophy of Right (‘The Family’ and ‘Civil Society’, §158-§188, §250-56)
Th (11/3): Freedom’s Right (Chapter 6.1, pp. 131-175)

Week 8:
Tu (11/8): Freedom’s Right (Chapter 6.2.1-2, pp. 176-223)
Th (11/10): Freedom’s Right (Chapter 6.2.3, pp. 224-252)
Fr (11/11): Critical Theory in Critical Times Conference (See:
http://www.criticaltheory.northwestern.edu/events/conferences.html)

Week 9:
Tu (11/15): Philosophy of Right (‘The State’, §257-271)
Th (11/17): Freedom’s Right (Chapter 6.3.1; pp. 253-280; optional: pp. 280-304)

Week 10:
Tu (11/22): Class Cancelled
Th (11/24): Thanksgiving—No Class

Week 11:
Make-up Class (Tu 11/29): Freedom’s Right (Chapter 6.3.2-3; pp. 304-335)