Hegel’s Fatalism as a Theory of Freedom

Abstract

Abstract For Hegel, human freedom is a genuinely creative and transformative power; it is more than an expression of our naturally given drives and passions. But although genuinely transformative, our freedom is a power that is nonetheless in and of nature. It is transformative without being transcendent. The author argues that Hegel’s insistence upon the transformative nature of our freedom is compatible with his version of fatalism. His remarks about the “fate” of world history express his endorsement of the premise that history’s course is to a significant extent our fate, that is, up to us. Thanks to our faculty of reason and resulting freedom, we can indeed shape our fate. Hegel is convinced that we can do so, even though he also grants that there is much that is contingent that happens to us.