Reason in the World: Hegel's Metaphysics and Its Philosophical Appeal

This book defends a new interpretation of Hegel's theoretical philosophy, according to which Hegel's project in his central Science of Logic has a single organizing focus, provided by taking metaphysics as fundamental to philosophy, rather than any epistemological problem about knowledge or intentionality. Hegel pursues more specifically the metaphysics of reason, concerned with grounds, reasons, or conditions in terms of which things can be explained-and ultimately with the possibility of complete reasons. There is no threat to such metaphysics in epistemological or skeptical worries. The real threat is Kant's Transcendental Dialectic case that metaphysics comes into conflict with itself. But Hegel, despite familiar worries, has a powerful case that Kant's own insights in the Dialectic can be turned to the purpose of constructive metaphysics. And we can understand in these terms the unified focus of the arguments at the conclusion of Hegel's Science of Logic. Hegel defends, first, his general claim that the reasons which explain things are always found in immanent concepts, universals or kinds. And he will argue from here to conclusions which are distinctive in being metaphysically ambitious yet surprisingly distant from any form of metaphysical foundationalism, whether scientistic, theological, or otherwise. Hegel's project, then, turns out neither Kantian nor Spinozist, but more distinctively his own. Finally, we can still learn a great deal from Hegel about ongoing philosophical debates concerning everything from metaphysics, to the philosophy of science, and all the way to the nature of philosophy itself.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Fundamentality of the Metaphysics of Reason Part I: Primitive and Mediate Reasons: Immanent Concepts from Mechanism to Teleology Chapter 1: The Dialectic of Mechanism Chapter 2: Against Empiricist Metaphysics and for the Concept Thesis and the Metaphysics of Reason Chapter 3: Kant's Challenge and Hegel's Defense of Natural Teleology: The Concept as the Substance of Life Part II: The Inescapable Problem of Complete Reasons: Kant's Dialectic Critique of Metaphysics Chapter 4: Kant's Dialectic Argument and the Restriction of Knowledge Chapter 5: The Opening for Hegel's Response to Kant's Dialectic Part III: Complete Reasons: From the Idea to the Absolute Idea Chapter 6: Against the Metaphysics of the Understanding and the Final Subject or Substratum Chapter 7: Insubstantial Holism and the Real Contradiction of the Lawful: Chemism Chapter 8: The Idea Chapter 9: Free Kind for Itself: From the Metaphysics of the Absolute Idea to Epistemological Monism and Idealism Chapter 10: Conclusion of the Logic: Dialectic, Contradiction, and Absolute Knowledge Index

About the Author :
James Kreines is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College, in Claremont, California. He teaches and writes about the history of metaphysics, especially in Kant and Hegel. Future research topics include metaphilosophy, and Kant's things in themselves.

Review :
"...he offers a book that will surprise both seasoned Hegel hands with the order and connection of its arguments and contemporary metaphysicians with the cogency of those arguments on their own playing field...Kreines' book marks an important step forward for understanding Hegel's theoretical philosophy. In clearly framing the import of Hegel's conceptual innovations by placing them against the background of options in modern metaphysics, Kreines continues his contributions towards the cultivation of a productive space for debate about the metaphysical significance of Hegel's thought." -- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online "A review cannot do full justice to the details of Kreines' arguments and the extent to which he brings Hegel into dialogue with contemporary philosophy...Much may and should be added to the defense of Hegel against contemporary objections. Kreines' book, however, makes a big step toward reconstructing Hegelian metaphysics and giving it renewed vitality." -- Philosophy in Review "...its value is secured by the remarkable clarity, thoroughness, and insight with which it has rearranged, reexamined, and reinterpreted an important constellation of Hegelian terms, arguments, and approaches-and also by its promise to bring Hegel into play in contemporary metaphysics. I strongly recommend it to anyone who already has, or should cultivate, an interest in Hegel, his era, or our own." -- Journal of the History of Philosophy