The generation of the three H's was the first generation of the twentieth century. Chronology shows that the spokesmen of this generation were born at the beginning of the century (Sartre in 1905, Merleau-Ponty in 1908) and that they made themselves known during the years immediately preceding the Second World War. Older writers, already established by this date, belong to the nineteenth century; this applies to the Bergsonian generation (Bergson himself was born in 1858, and had published his doctoral thesis in 1889).

The Interpretation of Hegel

There is no clearer sign of the changes in mentality – the revolt against neo-Kantianism, the decline of Bergsonianism – than the triumphal return of Hegel. Banished by the neo-Kantians, he curiously, and suddenly, became a vanguard writer, quoted with respect in leading circles. Two reasons seem chiefly to account for this resurgence. One was the renewal of interest in Marxism that occurred in the wake of the Russian Revolution – part of the prestige surrounding the Bolshevik leaders reflected back upon Hegel, in so far as Lenin, for instance, had actively recommended him for study. The other was the influence of the course given by Alexandre Kojève at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, beginning in 1933 and lasting until 1939.