[...]... work of the imagination, not its symbolic products, that is essential to Hegel’s thought.3 Paul Verene’s book Hegel’s Recollection: A Study of Images in the Phenomenology of Spirit (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985) is closest to mine in spirit However, Verene’s book is an analysis of the Phenomenology of Spirit, whereas mine focuses on the development of Hegel’s theory of the imagination. .. thinking through of representation Imagination, as the central moment of Vorstellen, is at the heart of the very movement of the Phenomenology of Spirit The imagination is the moment of synthesis, of comprehension, but as such it is also the moment of difference, of dis-closure The Phenomenology of Spirit does not only make us think through the imagination It gives us the task of thinking the imagination. .. BOOK’S CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOLARSHIP A number of books deal with related topics but none has as its focus Hegel’s theory of imagination Nor has anyone recognized (let alone tried solve) the puzzle of its apparent absence in the Phenomenology of Spirit Kathleen Dow Magnus’s book Hegel and the Symbolic Mediation of Spirit (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001) claims that Hegel’s philosophy... Kant’s theory of imagination (an excellent example is Sarah L Gibbon’s book by that title [Oxford: Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, 1994]), very little has reached the academic or general public about Hegel’s theory of the imagination THE AUDIENCE FOR WHICH THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN Hegel’s Theory of the Imagination was written for academic readers in philosophy in general, in the history of philosophy... One, Imagination in Theory, ” begins (chapter 1) with a look at Hegel’s theory of the imagination in the context of his criticism of the philosophies of subjective reflection I look at his criticism of those philosophies of the period that were based on a subjective ontology as opposed to a substance ontology The main textual focus of the chapter is Hegel’s Faith and Knowledge I also make use of Hegel’s... University of New York Press were enormously helpful and I am very grateful for their fruitful challenges and suggestions I thank the University of Toronto for its support during the initial writing of this work, and the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst for a year-long research fellowship at the University of Heidelberg I would also like to thank professor Jay Lampert at the University of Guelph... character of culture; it appears to be designed in the appreciated, beautiful object (CJ ¶59) Now let us move from his theory of the beautiful to his theory of the sublime According to Kant, the experience of the sublime reveals our freedom It does so because the limits of the imagination are exceeded In the experience of the sublime, the requirement of totality, which is an idea of Reason, calls upon the imagination. .. Professor Kenneth Schmitz He first introduced me to Hegel and his philosophical prodding has taught me to look deeply into the subject at hand I would also like to thank Professor Graeme Nicholson and Professor Joseph Owens at the University of Toronto, and Professor H F Fulda and Dr Harald Pilot (both at the University of Heidelberg) for their insight and help Two anonymous readers at the State University. .. versions of the Philosophy of Spirit This schema indicates where the imagination appears in each So much for Part One In order to explain what I do in Part Two, let me remind you of the original question: What role is the imagination playing in the Phenomenology of Spirit? None of the Philosophy of Spirit texts on the imagination, by themselves, provide the answer One has to look at the role of the imagination. .. the imagination is the first cognitive form of Aufhebung Imagination is the sine qua non of our knowledge of the Concept in nature and ourselves The dialectic of the imagination is a spatiotemporal one, so understanding how the imagination works within the production of representations (Vorstellungen) implies coming to grips with the history of Spirit and its self-presentations The final section of . Hegel’s Theory of Imagination ሀ SUNY series in Hegelian Studies William Desmond, editor Hegel’s Theory of Imagination JENNIFER ANN BATES State University of New York Press ሀ Published by State University. Press ሀ Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2004 State University of New York All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced. in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246 Production, Kelli Williams Marketing, Susan M. Petrie Library of Congress