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Hegel’s Criticism of Hinduism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2016

Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart*
Affiliation:
Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre, University of Copenhagen, Denmarkjs@sk.ku.dk
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Abstract

In his Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion Hegel critically refers to Hinduism as ‘The Religion of Imagination’ or, in another translation, ‘The Religion of Phantasy’. Hegel’s study of Hinduism came during the period when there was a rapidly growing interest in India, indeed, an Indomania, in the German-speaking world. Hegel meticulously kept up with the most recent publications in the field. This article examines Hegel’s critical assessment of Hinduism in order to determine what specifically he finds objectionable in it. It is argued that his objection ultimately concerns what he takes to be the mistaken conception of what it is to be a human being that underlies the Hindu view. This conception, he claims, undermines the development of subjective freedom that he takes to be so important.

Type
Articles
Information
Hegel Bulletin , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , October 2016 , pp. 281 - 304
Copyright
© The Hegel Society of Great Britain 2016 

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