Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), also known in Greek literature as Έγελος, was born in Stuttgart and studied Philosophy and Theology at the University of Tübingen (1788-93). In 1802, he became a lecturer at the University of Jena, where he wrote his first major work, "The Phenomenology of Spirit" (1807). As a newspaper editor in Bamberg and as the director of a Gymnasium in Nuremberg, he wrote his second significant book, "The Science of Logic" (1812-16). In 1816, Hegel became a professor at the University of Heidelberg and in 1818 at the University of Berlin. In 1830, he became the rector of this university. In Berlin, Hegel developed his most significant philosophical work, primarily through university lectures, often being characterized as the "Prussian state philosopher." With his (Hegelian) philosophical system, known as "absolute idealism," which completes idealistic philosophy, Hegel continued Kant's line of inquiry, accepting that the spirit is identified with the absolute and is divided into three parts: logic, the philosophy of nature, and the philosophy of spirit. These three parts of the system represent the three dialectical stages of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.