(Updated 06 August 2018)

This is an MA level module for students on the MA in Philosophy. MA students from other courses may take this module as an option, provided they have the prior approval of their PGT Director and Thomas Khurana.

Hegel's Philosophy of Right

This module will be devoted to a close reading of Hegel's Philosophy of Right (henceforth PhR, published 1821). The PhR is Hegel's major work in moral and political philosophy and contains a philosophical defence of modern social institutions, including the nuclear family, civil society (including the market), and the state.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should:


  • have a good understanding of the overall structure of Hegel's PhR, and the role of individual sections of the book within it;


  • have a good understanding of the essential features of Hegel's views on central topics such as: philosophical method, the nature of personhood, rights and private property, moral consciousness, intersubjective recognition, the institutions of modern ethical life and their pathologies; and the role of freedom in the modern world;


  • have a good understanding of the way in which Hegel's thought functions as the starting point for a variety of important strands in later 19th and 20th century continental European philosophy;


  • be able to write a critical essay on some aspect of Hegel's thought in the PhR.