The Recurrence of the End Times: Voegelin, Hegel, and the Stop-History Movements explores the deep connection between modern political ideologies and the secular eschatological hopes and dreams of a post-Christian society. Focusing primarily upon the thought of 20th century German émigré political scientist Eric Voegelin, the book argues that we cannot understand the globalized world in which we live unless we appreciate the lasting influence of the various ""End of History"" speculators—specifically, G.W.
F Hegel, Alexandre Kojève, and Francis Fukuyama. Through a Voegelinian lens, he dissects the relationship between these three thinkers, also claiming that while Voegelin may have misunderstood Hegel, his critiques of the Hegelian approach to history offer fresh and important perspectives on the contemporary world. This makes a forceful argument that the idea of history as a teleological path, leading toward some goal—whether perfect harmony between nations, a technocratic utopia, a return to some romanticized idyllic “state of nature,” or what Kojève and Fukuyama called the “universal and homogenous State”—has vast, and perverse, implications for the trajectory of American foreign and domestic policy.
By:
Michael J. Colebrook
Imprint: Lexington Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 227mm,
Width: 161mm,
Spine: 21mm
Weight: 485g
ISBN: 9781793651341
ISBN 10: 1793651345
Series: Political Theory for Today
Pages: 202
Publication Date: 02 June 2022
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Part I: General Introduction to the End of History Controversy Chapter 1: The End of History, Identity Politics, and Transcendence Chapter 2: The Origins of a Hegelian Misunderstanding Part II: Hegel and the Crisis of Christian Salvation History Chapter 3: Universal History Reimagined Chapter 4: Elements of Historiogenesis Chapter 5: Tradition-Bound Historiogenesis: Christian Historia Sacra Chapter 6: Gnostic Historiogenesis: The Case of Hegel Chapter 7: Historical Mankind and Historical Traditions Part III: Intentionality and the Historical Process Chapter 8: Voegelin on Human Consciousness Chapter 9: Kojève’s Hegel on Time and History Chapter 10: Voegelin on the Problem of Time and the “Stop-History” Movements Part IV: Hegel’s Eclipse of Reality Chapter 11: Hegel as Psychiatric Case Study? Chapter 12: Voegelin and R.D. Laing on the Divided Self Chapter 13: Does Hegel Manifest Schizoid Symptoms? Chapter 14: Shortcomings in Laing’s Theory of the Two Selves Chapter 15: Ontological Insecurity and Von Doderer’s Analysis of Second Realities Chapter 16: Voegelin on Hegel’s Second Reality Chapter 17: Voegelin’s Kojèvian “Code” as an Inadequate Interpretation of Hegel’s System Part V: Kojève’s Hegel: Deliberate Falsification or Valid Exegesis? Chapter 18: Possible Interpretations of End of History Thesis Chapter 19: Kojève on the Present and Future Chapter 20: How Valid Are Kojève’s Observations on the Modern World? Chapter 21: Why Hegel’s Rational State is neither Universal nor Homogeneous Chapter 22: What is Hegel’s Position on the End of History? Chapter 23: Hegel on Transcendence and the “Beyond” Conclusion: Transcendence, Death, and the Search for Order
Michael J. Colebrookteaches in the World Languages and Religious Studies Department at St. John's High School. .
Reviews for The Recurrence of the End Times: Voegelin, Hegel, and the Stop-History Movements
Beginning with the assumption that we today are still fundamentally inhabitants of Hegel's world-- the modern world-- Michael Colebrook has provided an always insightful and often provocative analysis of the relationship among Hegel, Alexandre Kojeve, and Eric Voegelin. The latter two are themselves first-class thinkers whose commentaries on Hegel have generated considerable controversy. Colebrook's focus is on the symbol End of History, made famous in Kojeve's lectures in the 1930s in Paris and a staple of French political thinking ever since. Coming to terms with Colebrook's judicious interpretation will be a significant future task for scholars of any, or all, of these three thinkers. -- Barry Cooper, University of Calgary
