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Sat 24 Jan, 2009 11:58 pm
Well, I was learning about Hegel's ideas of the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis of ideas.
I was wondering though, doesn't that theory imply that history began with a single idea, and that at one point, however brief, everyone in the world believed in the exact same thesis?
Also, because of the synthesis aspect, that all of the theses in history all include the exact same ideas, plus a few new ones?
@Scaramouche2,
That is not the way I have understood Hegel.
The thesis is a single idea, yes, but from one point of view only. The antithesis is a conflicting point of view. The synthesis takes both points of view to develop a new thesis which will have its own antithesis and so on until the process arrives at a final and ultimate truth. In other words there will always be thesis and antithesis until you arrive at a final synthesis for which there is no thesis and antithesis. At that point you have arrived at the truth.
I don't think Hegel ever saw it as everybody at some point agreeing on a single point of view but rather his formula was in the defense of philosophy as a means of rationally and systematically seeking the truth out of any complexity.
As simple as this seems, his concepts had a huge influence on the philosophyof his day and that which followed.
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