Endless Summer

Here is the blog for the Hegel summer reading group.  I thought it would be a good idea to keep a brief log of what we have covered in groups so far so that we don't get too lost in the text.  Also, I am bloody determined to read the Phenomenology in full and thought that writing down and reflecting on what has been covered might help.

Also, in true Hegelian style, the purpose of this blog is to sharpen ideas about the text by externalising them and in this way helping to create a dialogue between the members of the group.  

For now however, here is the reading list:

Week 1)  Preface and Introduction

Week 2)  Section A : Consciousness

Week 3)  Section B : Self consciousness

Week 4)  Section C (AA.) Reason - a. Observing Reason

Week 5)  Break

Week 6)  Section C (AA.) Reason - b.  The Actualisation of Rational... & c. Individuality...

Week 7)  Section C (BB.)  Spirit - a. The True Spirit: The Ethical Order 

Week 8)  Section C b. Self Alienated Spirit: culture 

The 'Culture' section is huge and is (I believe) a social history of the development of thought from a teleological perspective.  Since a few of the members of the group will be, by week eight, knee deep in dissertation hell, I figured that the different members of the group could cover the parts that interest them, but we can discuss this in the group nearer the time.

Finally, I'm reminded of a comment made by David Harvey during one of the Marx reading group seminars about the worth of combining lots of different people from different backgrounds in a reading group.  Although we are all philosophy postgrads, our different interests inform what parts of the text draw our interest.  I've really enjoyed the first two seminars and hope that the informative and interesting comments on the reading will continue throughout.

I will post my notes and comments on the text here, and I really hope that others will do the same (either submit what you have in a word file and I'll put it up, or I can send you my login details so you can post it yourselves).  I must point out that reading a lot of Kant and Adorno for my dissertation has informed my perspective on the text and this will come across should anyone choose to read my notes.   It would be great if other members of the group were to post their notes and their take on the text so that we can pool perspectives on certain sections within the text and on the Phenomenology of Spirit as a whole.