Hegel and the Other: A Study of the Phenomenology of Spirit (SUNY Series in Hegelian Studies)

A new, highly accessible commentary on Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit.

This volume by Philip J. Kain is one of the most accessibly written books on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit available. Avoiding technical jargon without diluting Hegel’s thought, Kain shows the Phenomenology responding to Kant in far more places than are usually recognized. This perspective makes Hegel’s text easier to understand. Kain also argues against the traditional understanding of the absolute and touches on Hegel’s relation to contemporary feminist and postmodern themes.

“…Kain offers a unique interpretation of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, thereby providing an interesting inquiry and explanation of both the workings of Hegel’s text, and the underlying theory (or theories) that inform it.” — Philosophy in Review

“I admire the simplicity of Kain’s style. He is determined to appropriate Hegel’s thought, not his cumbersome syntax. There is no fudging on positions here, nor rhetorical camouflage. The reader gets the impression that Hegel can be understood on his own terms and then used to confront contemporary problems. It is a comprehensive interpretation that makes a major contribution to Hegel studies and to socio-cultural studies, raises important questions in the philosophy of religion, and engages recent and significant scholarship.” — Michael G. Vater, coeditor of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit: New Critical Essays

“With exceptional straightforwardness of style, the author argues not only that a Kantian-type ‘presuppositional necessity’ is the bedrock of the phenomenological strategy in Hegel, but also that Kantian epistemology is at the center of the issues in the first three chapters of the Phenomenology, a treatment that is quite insightful and compelling. The extent of the connection to Kantian philosophy is unique and provocative and is certain to stimulate much discussion and debate.” — David A. Duquette, editor of Hegel’s History of Philosophy: New Interpretations

Philip J. Kain is Professor of Philosophy at Santa Clara University and is the author of Marx and Modern Political Theory: From Hobbes to Contemporary Feminism.