Hegel, champion of an authoritarian state... or a liberal one?

Le Regard Libre N° 76 - Olivier Meuwly

Prejudice against philosophers« series, episode #1

Each month, Le Regard Libre presents a philosopher whose thinking differs from, or even runs counter to, the clichés that circulate about him. Historian Olivier Meuwly opens the ball by arguing that Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel did not advocate an authoritarian state. On the contrary, our guest editor locates certain theoretical foundations of liberalism at the heart of the Hegelian system. Direct democracy itself is no stranger to the German's vision, according to the historian.

Mention the name of the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), and the reaction is twofold. Either your interlocutor will describe him as the theorist of an absolute, omnipotent, omniscient state, with a value s