Religion, Absolute and Philosophy in Hegel’s fragments of Frankfurt: On Religion

Abstract

Through a systematic reconstruction of the conception of religious unification conceived by Hegel during his time in Frankfurt this paper seek to emphasize both the peculiar and differentiating aspects of it and the anticipative elements of the course the Hegelian thought will acquire from Jena. The reconstruction proceeds in three steps: thematization of the immediate life, reflection and its action on life; Characterization of religion as an elevation over finitude and access to infinite life as spirit; Determination of the critical-negative function of philosophy, subordinated to religion. As conclusion is established that in these early texts Hegel comes to a central structure of his later thought, namely, the life-cognition-spirit structure. It also offers a consideration of the liberating potential that for Hegel both religion and philosophy have since they overcome the limitations of a specific form of hegemonic rationality in culture.