Volume 35, Issue 1/2, Fall/Spring 2003
Will Dudley
Pages 25-48
Impure Reason
Hegel on the Irrationality of the Rational
The primary aim of this paper is to investigate what Hegel means by “reason” and “rationality.” The paper identifies and interprets some of Hegel’s most significant claims concerning the content of these terms, paying particular attention to his claims regarding the relation of the rational and the irrational. The resulting understanding of Hegel’s account of reason is then used to develop an improved interpretation of Hegel’s assertion of the equivalence of the rational and the actual.