Hegel and Postmodernity: Towards In-Finitude

Bara Kolenc

doi:10.2298/FID2402219K

Authors

Bara Kolenc Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2298/FID2402219K

Keywords:

Hegel, postmodernity, postmodernism, modernity, limit, totality, in-finitude, uni-formation, capitalism, socialism

Abstract

The article delves into the multifaceted interplay between Hegel and postmodernity, as well as between postmodernity and the contemporary era. Both perspectives grapple with the notion of modernity, intricately tied to considerations of history, the idea of ending, and the concept of historical breaks. Deriving an analysis of the leading ideas of modernity and postmodernity, focusing especially on their relation to Hegel’s philosophy, we propose the thesis that postmodernity is not an epoch that succeeded modernity, but rather a transitional phase contributing to the decline of modernity itself. The contours of this new epoch, as yet indefinable or explicable, are revealed through significant shifts that have recently unsettled the fundamental frameworks upon which modernity was constructed. In doing so, we show that Hegel, who is certainly not a postmodernist, points to precisely the mechanism through which modernity can be transcended, which concerns human relation to substance, being, and time. Moreover, as it entails a revised human engagement with finitude and infinity, we term this relation “In-Finitude”, or “Un-Endlichkeit”.

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