Conspectus of Hegel’s Book Lectures on the Philosophy Of History

Conspectus of Hegel’s book “Lectures on the Philosophy of History” consists of a separate notebook on whose cover is written “Hegel.” On the reverse side of the cover, in pencil, there is a list of Plato’s dialogues with references to pages in Vol. XIV of Hegel, which contains the second book of Lectures on the History of Philosophy. Note that this document has undergone special formating to ensure that Lenin’s sidenotes fit on the page, marking as best as possible where they were located in the original manuscript.

Materials: Notes of the lectures 1822-1831. Hegel’s manuscript up to p. 73, etc.

p. 12—“reason governs the world....”

Here in Hegel is often to be found—about God, religion, moral- ity in general—extremely trite ideal- istic nonsense.

97: “the gradual abolition of slav- ery is better than its sudden re- moval....”

p. 446—

In general the philosophy of history yields very, very little—this is compre- hensible, for it is precisely here, in this field, in this science, that Marx and Engels made the greatest step for- ward. Here most of all, Hegel is obso- lete and antiquated. (see the next page)

“If then, finally, we regard world history from the standpoint of the category through which it should be considered, we have before us an endless picture of human life and activity under the most varied circumstances, with all kinds of aims and the most diverse events and destinies. In all these occurrences and events we see human action and effort in the forefront; everywhere something akin to ourselves, and therefore everywhere something that excites our interest for or against. Sometimes it attracts us by beauty, freedom and richness, sometimes by energy, sometimes even vice succeeds in making itself important. Often there is the comprehensive mass of some general interest that cumbrously moves forward, but still more often the infinite exertion of minute forces, which produce a tremendous result from what appears insignificant; every where the motleyest spectacle, and as soon as one vanishes another takes its place.

“But the immediate result of this consideration, however attractive it may be, is exhaustion, such as follows after a very varied spectacle, a magic lantern show; and even if we accord to each individual representation its true worth, the question nevertheless arises in our minds, what is the final aim of all these particular events, is each one exhausted by its special aim, or ought one not rather think of a single ultimate aim of all these events; behind the loud noises at the surface is there not going on the labour and production of a work, an internal, quiet, secret work in which the essential force of all those transitory phenomena is stored up? But if one does not bring thought, rational cognition, to world history from the beginning, one must at least approach it with the firm unshakable faith that it has reason in it, or at least that the world of the intellect and self-conscious will is not a victim of chance but must reveal itself in the light of the self-knowing idea.” (73-74)

((NB. In the Preface, p. XVIII, the publisher, i.e., the editor, Ed. Gans, states that up to p.73 the text was written by Hegel in 1830; the manuscript is an “Ausarbeitung))