Hegel, unhappy consciousness and endogenous cultural change

Abstract

How and why does culture change? Very often, our meaningful priorities change as a result of accidental circumstances and external factors. But what about endogenous cultural change, when the values that matter to us are reinterpreted from our mulling them over? In these instances, our beliefs may not change randomly but in a progressively patterned way, as we gain greater clarity on the character of our primary commitments and search for coherence in their empirical application. This article outlines one model of endogenous cultural change, using Hegel’s discussion of the dialectical dynamism of liberal culture as an example. In the process, I argue Hegel’s endogenous model can enrich the meaning of reflexivity in anthropology. For Hegel, reflexivity is less about loosening our attachment to our initially contingent ideals as it is about perfecting them.