Page:Ethical Theory of Hegel (1921).djvu/17

 that there is more than a difference of emphasis, and I have tried to read the two books together.

The Philosophy of Right is an expansion of a part of the whole scheme; the last portion of it itself is greatly expanded by Hegel in his lectures on the Philosophy of History given from 1822 to 1831. I have used this work to amplify certain points.

The introduction to the Philosophy of Right presents considerable difficulty. It is a brief attempt to place the reader in a position to begin Hegel’s philosophy in the middle. I have chosen a somewhat different approach, and have drawn on various writings from which his general doctrine is to be gathered. The earlier portions of the Encyclopaedia, of course, are relevant, and I have made some reference to the Larger Logic which Hegel wrote during 1812-16. I have avoided discussion of peculiar doctrines of his philosophy of nature as far as possible, but I have introduced it wherever it seemed necessary to understand the general position.

I am very conscious of the imperfection of the treatment given here. The presuppositions of the ethical standpoint are not sufficiently expounded, and I have had to be extremely dogmatic in my references to Hegel’s Logic. This I regret, but it seems inevitable. The full exposition of the Logic would occupy greater space than this book itself, and cannot be given propaedeutically. I regret also that I have not been able to carry forward my account into the region of what Hegel calls absolute mind. But again the task is so involved that I have had to content myself with little more than a bare indication of the problem which has to be solved by succeeding portions of philosophy. In reference to both these fields I have tried to adopt Hegel’s own point of view, and have not developed any criticism. Throughout the exposition I have not attempted to conceal the fact that I agree very substantially with Hegel’s treatment; and I have often ventured