In The Spirit Of Critique: Critical Theory In Hegel’s Phenomenology Of Spirit

ABSTRACT IN THE SPIRIT OF CRITIQUE Critical Theory in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit Michael A. Becker This dissertation is a reconstruction of Hegel’s 1807 Phenomenology of Spirit that establishes its underlying continuity with “Frankfurt School” thought. In three parts, it shows how Hegel’s early text expounds the “inner cells” of a unified and defensible critical theory. Part I shows that the Phenomenology obeys an exacting model of “immanent critique” – a philosophical method that promotes a self-reflexive transformation in “spirit.” I additionally connect Hegel’s discussion of “speculative sentences” to this immanent method. Part II develops an interpretation of the “object” corresponding to this method, so-called “natural consciousness.” I claim that the Phenomenology exhibits natural consciousness as the bearer of a “second nature” that must be “defetishized” through Hegel’s critical procedure. Further, I show that, in the “blindness” suffered by natural consciousness, Hegel has constructed an early model of “ideological delusion.” Part III advances the view that the entire Phenomenology can be read as a derivation of the immanent-critical standpoint, as it subverts all standpoints that remain “external” to their objects. The Phenomenology suggests, in fact, that this structure of “externality” is at the core of three modern “rational pathologies”: namely, “instrumental reason,” “nihilistic disenchantment,” and “moralizing criticism.” The Conclusion recollects the various “cells” isolated in the preceding discussion and integrates them into a Hegelian Critical Theory. The dissertation ends by contemplating several intellectual-historical questions regarding Hegel’s own intentions for such a critically transformative philosophy. IN THE SPIRIT OF CRITIQUE Critical Theory in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit by Michael A. Becker September 2018 Submitted to The New School for Social Research of The New School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Dissertation Committee: Dr. Jay M. Bernstein, Chair (The New School for Social Research) Dr. Richard J. Bernstein (The New School for Social Research) Dr. Rahel Jaeggi (Humboldt University of Berlin) Dr. Frederick Neuhouser (Barnard College, Columbia University) For my mom and dad, with love ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to say a word of thanks to all the people and institutions who have helped me through the process of writing this dissertation, beginning with the members of my committee: Jay Bernstein, Dick Bernstein, Rahel Jaeggi, and Fred Neuhouser. Jay has been an exceptional advisor since I arrived at the New School and has offered unwavering support for all my philosophical explorations. His early enthusiasm for the major ideas in this dissertation, and his illuminating feedback on earlier drafts of my writing, have made all the difference. The finished project has also benefited tremendously from the time I spent as Jay’s TA during his most recent Hegel lectures. Observing Jay up close for the year – together with the mixed blessing of marking up hundreds of student “minicommentaries” on the Phenomenology! – presented a vital opportunity to test out my interpretation with and against others’. I would like to thank Dick, who for years has inspired me both in his teaching and his scholarship. His yearlong seminar on the Phenomenology was a formative experience in my intellectual development, and I thank him, as well, for his early encouragement over the direction of my project. He has remained a discerning interlocutor concerning all things Hegel. Thank you to Rahel, who graciously took me on as her RA during her stay at the New School as the