ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, BY G. W. F. HEGEL. TRANSLATED FROM THE THIRD GERMAN EDITION BY J. SIBREE, M. A. "The History of the World is not intelligible apart from a Government of LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK ST., COVENT GARDEN, AND NEW YORK. REPRINTED FROM STEREOTYPE PLATES BY WM. CLOWES & SONS, LTD., STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. поделе TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. HEGEL'S Lectures on the Philosophy of History are recog⚫ nized in Germany as a popular introduction to his system; their form is less rigid than the generality of metaphysical treatises, and the illustrations, which occupy a large proportion of the work, are drawn from a field of observation more familiar perhaps, than any other, to those who have not devoted much time to metaphysical studies. One great value of the work is that it presents the leading facts of History from an altogether novel point of view. And when it is considered that the writings of Hegel have exercised a marked influence on the political movements of Germany, it will be admitted that his theory of the universe, especially that part which bears directly upon politics, deserves attention even from those who are the most exclusive advocates of the 'practical.' A writer who has established his claim to be regarded as an authority, by the life which he has infused into metaphysical abstractions, has pronounced the work before us, "one of the pleasantest books on the subject he ever read.”* And compared with that of most German writers, even the style may claim to be called vigorous and pointed. If therefore in its English dress the Philosophy of History should be found deficient in this respect, the fault must not be attributed to the original. It has been the aim of the translator to present his author Mr. G. H. Lewes, in his Biogr. Hist. of Philosophy, Vol. IV. Ed. 1841. |