The Relationship of Hegel's Political Philosophy to ‎Classical and Modern Political Philosophy

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Social ‎Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran.‎

Abstract

In this article, the author aims to demonstrate how Hegel's political philosophy establishes a synthesis between classical political philosophy, particularly that of Aristotle, and modern political philosophy, from Machiavelli to Hobbes and Rousseau. In other words, the author seeks to show how Hegel utilized the strengths of both periods of political thought to construct his modern state.This research, conducted using a descriptive-analytical method, has studied all the primary texts of Western political thought. One of its findings is the influence of classical political philosophy on Hegel in the domain of the state. This is where, echoing Aristotle, Hegel views the state as prior to the individual, and the sphere of the common good as generally taking precedence over the individual. Consequently, the state holds a higher position than civil society and the family in Hegel's thought.On the other hand, modern political thought discovers the individual as separate from the whole and from the state. It attempts to recognize this newly discovered individual, with all their desires and inclinations, and to make the state subservient to them.Hegel, by drawing on the achievements of both past traditions, portrays a state that, while it is prior to the individual, is entirely structured from within the individual and is the objectivity of their inner subjectivity.

Keywords

References

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Theosophia Islamica
Volume 5, Issue 2 - Serial Number 10
November 2025
Pages 103-146

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