/lit/ - Literature

And the Phenomenology of Spirit it is a commentary on. Brutally difficult though. Also very beautiful.

No. The bits of truth it gets at were pulled out and subsumed into what is still the greatest work of human insight in history, the Phenomenology.

It's still the end goal.

First I tried to listen to the Phenomenology of Spirit and almost crashed my car and had to return it a few hours later.

Then I read it but only got islands of beautiful lucidity and insight in a sea of confusion.

So I got the most complete commentary, 1,600 pages with a paragraph by paragraph breakdown and summary of each paragraph into clearer sentences.

Well frens, Hackett takes a pretty literal interpretation of Hegel, the Hegel that is a Christian mystic that is hugely influenced by Boehme and the commentary is written in that vein, is incredibly complex, and presupposes a familiarity with German idealism too, so now the commentary is filtering me too.

The ideas just pile up and I don't have the mental shorthand to deal with it. Maybe it's a cognitive ability thing, but I've always aced standardized tests without effort, so I should be on the far end of the scale. And in practical terms, I went to an elite grad school, tested into the advanced courses, and was one of the top students in a number of PhD level classes, so I am not sure if it is that. I think understanding PoS requires both a great deal of cognitive ability and a phenomenal amount of prepwork and background reading.

I can't say I'm totally filtered because I am getting points and can see the brilliance, but it is very hard.

Boehme kind of filtered me too, but I found The Signature at least passable in a single go.

>>18656187
BTW, I don't mean you need to read ALL of what those guys wrote, but you need to have read more than a survey for Kant and Fichte, and preferably actually read Boehme's Signature of All Things or at least the opening chapters where he gets into ontology and creation.

Then you also are going to want a secondary source on Hegel, and you'll need to look up every work he capitalizes for multiple sources saying what he is referring to.

Hegel's Ladder is an excellent commentary. Bernstein Tapes.com has a PhD level course on PoS over two semesters taped. I disagree with Bernstein's interrpetation of Hegel, and think Hackett gets much more right, but it's good to listen to that too and see a different perspective and hear it discussed verbally.

Yes the commentary is 1,600 pages, yes you'll also need the text because the commentary doesn't include it, but I've found it eminently worthwhile because PoS is a text unlike any other philosophical text I've found

These and PoS.

>>18558802
Plus this

Along with the Phenomenology

Anyone read Hegel's Ladder?

It's a paragraph by paragraph commentary on the Phenomenology of Spirit, 1,600 pages long. I read it was the best guide but it's $150.

I didn't know if it would really offer than much more than The Logic of Desire by Kalkavage or the Routledge Guide (both $30).

Also, are Yehuda Berg's Kabbalahistic commentaries on the Torah any good?

Shot in the dark, I know.

If I'm going to have to dedicate a significant amount of time to wrestling with Hegel, I'd sort of like to give myself the best shot possible and then move on and be done with him for a long time. But is this 1,500pg slog worth it? Anyone read this thing?