Hegel ~ Free Will, Determinism, and its Importance Today
A Brief Introduction to theories on Free Will
After Epicurus who “discovered” the free will dilemma in the 4th century, many philosophers have offered their own theories and solutions. Notably, Hobbes, Nietzche, Kant, and Hegel all have work which furthered scholarly discourse on free will.
Hobbes held a deterministic view on human nature, arguing that free will was an illusion we believed in. For Nietzche, he thought that one’s need and fear of free will were signs of one’s discontentment. Though all perspectives are interesting in their own right, one philosopher has stood out to me due to how similar yet varying his theories on free will are to that of Epicurus: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. This article will explore Hegel’s theories on free will, and how they stand up to Epicurus on free will.
Who was Hegel?
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher active during the 19th century. He was known and most influential for his work in German Idealism, and he engaged extensively with the concept of free will within his various works.
Hegel’s Theories
Hegel claimed, free will and thinking were inseparable; freedom constituting will the same way heaviness constituted physical bodies. He had a very spiritual way of thinking which became the reason for his theories.
Hegel’s main philosophical frame for believing in free will was his strong belief that everything in the universe was a process, in constant evolution. As does the universe evolve, Hegel asserts that humans must also evolve, and consequently are in a constant state of self-realization. He argued in favor of free will using this ideology, concluding that free will was only free when it “does not do anything alien, extrinsic, foreign to itself (for as long as it does so, it is dependent), but wills itself alone…”
Thus to Hegel, for a will to be free, preconditions must be eradicated and only when the will is not dependant and bound to societal dependencies was the will free to evolve. Hegel further connected this to society and societal constraints, believing that true freedom of will was not just the absence of constraints but the ability to self-realize and evolve through constraints, emerging as a combination of individual will and external limitations.
Hegel’s “Solution”
Hegel argues that free will can only truly be obtained when one emerges past external preconditions. One take on Hegel’s work proposes that individuals must achieve this self realization by participating in spiritual progress which will evolve humankind.
It is reasoned that this continued evolution of humanity is where personal will and desire can be synthesized with collective will and external factors. Therefore, for one to achieve free will, one must immerse themself in this spiritual progression.
Similarities to Epicurus
Both Hegel and Epicurus believed in free will and though both had a different framework for believing in it they both emphasize that a) individual responsibility plays a role in free will, and that b) there are factors external to us that contribute to free will, as contradictory as it may seem.
Individual Will
Hegel stresses the importance of individuals in their own will, as he believes that a true free will is a combination of individual will and external limitations. This can be seen through his proposed “solutions' ' to free will, stating that “freedom of will” is obtained by spiritual progression. To Epicurus, his philosophical framework is centered around focusing on one’s pleasure and freedom. He believed this freedom was incompatible with determinism, thus favoring free will. Though both focus on individual freedom and they have different motivations and ultimately different reasons coming to a similar conclusion.
Social Context and External Factors
Both believe that free will, though achievable, must still recognize social context and objective truths. Hegel argued that for a will to will itself, they must not be bound to societal dependencies but rather emerge as a mixture of individual will and external factors. Epicurus theorized that though atoms may move along a determined path, there may be swerves. This represents that objective truths and societal dependencies exist but are subject to changes based on said swerves which represent our actions. Thus, both acknowledge that freewill is interconnected with social factors but are still subject to individual change and are not predetermined.
Conclusions
Though both philosophers are over 10 centuries apart, they developed different yet similar theories on free will. While Hegel is more spiritual, they both placed emphasis on similar factors to develop the same conclusion. This tells us that though philosophy is inspired by different factors and may develop differently, we as a society may still reach similar conclusions about certain dilemmas. I believe that both Hegel and Epicurus’s theories have stood past the test of time and are both interesting in their own right. Though we do not yet know the future of philosophy, one certainty is that the debate on free will and determinism will continue into the future, and both Epicurus and Hegel have played a role in that.
Sources
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel-social-political/#FreeRigh
https://academic.oup.com/book/10667/chapter-abstract/158704498?redirectedFrom=fulltext
https://philpapers.org/versions/PHDFPO
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel/