VOLUME 4 ISSUE 1 NOVEMBER 2016​

Legal Right and Personhood in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit

Paul ​Baumgardner
GWF Hegel’s masterwork, Phenomenology of Spirit, is not
commonly read as a significant work of legal theory. Instead,
the work is generally studied for its distinctive epistemology
and the manner in which it links Hegel’s philosophy of
history to various epochal ways of life. However, under
further investigation, Hegel’s historical insights allow for a
remarkable legal critique. A close reading of the passages on
ancient Greek and Roman laws and political norms
demonstrates the ways in which Hegel problematises issues
of legal right and personhood.