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Hegel and the Problem of Affluence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2021

THIMO HEISENBERG Open the ORCID record for THIMO HEISENBERG [Opens in a new window]
THIMO HEISENBERG*
Affiliation:
BRYN MAWR COLLEGE theisenber@brynmawr.edu
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Abstract

It is widely known that Hegel's Philosophy of Right recognizes poverty as one of the central problems of modern civil society. What is much less well known, however, is that Hegel sees yet another structural problem at the opposite side of the economic spectrum: a problem of affluence. Indeed, as I show in this essay, Hegel's text contains a detailed—yet sometimes overlooked—discussion of the detrimental psychological and sociological effects of great wealth and how to counter them. By bringing this discussion to the fore, we get a more complete picture of Hegel's theory of civil society (and of some of its central concepts, such as ‘the rabble') and shed light on an aspect of Hegel's social philosophy that speaks to problems we face today.

Keywords

Hegelpovertyaffluencecivil society
Type
Article
Information
Journal of the American Philosophical Association , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , Summer 2022 , pp. 224 - 237
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Philosophical Association

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Footnotes

I thank Borhane Blili-Hamelin, Raphael Causapin, Yaniv Goren, Matthew Heeney, Alex Jensen, Sebastian Kanally, Gal Katz, Katja Vogt, and Mira Wolf-Bauwens for comments on earlier draft of this essay. Many thanks also to several anonymous referees for helpful suggestions and prompts. As always, my gratitude belongs also to Fred Neuhouser for encouragement, comments, and inspiration.

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