u Ottawa L'Universit6 canadieruie Canada's university FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTDOCTORALES u Ottawa POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES L'Univer.sito c muulienne Canada's university Heather MacQuarrie Ph.D. (Philosophy) Department of Philosophy Feminine Consciousness and Greek Spirit in Hegel TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS D. Moggach "CO-DTRECTEUR"(CO-DI EXAMINATEURS (EXAMINATRICES) DE LA THESE/THESIS EXAMINERS L. Armour N. Changfoot J. Reid D. Schlitt Gary W. Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Feminine Consciousness and Greek Spirit in Hegel Heather D. Macquarrie Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the PhD degree in Philosophy Department of Philosophy Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Heather D. 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The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriety du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my deep gratitude to my advisor, Professor Douglas Moggach, for his patience, guidance, inspiration, and support during the course of my studies. Rev. Dale Schlitt, O.M.I., Dr. Jeffrey Reid and Dr. Lesley Armour, members of my examining committee, provided helpful and encouraging comments. Dr. Nadine Changfoot, external examiner, gave generously of her time to ensure the manuscript received a thoroughgoing reading. Her constructive comments assisted me to complete the project. I am grateful to the University of Ottawa for its commitment to providing an inclusive learning environment for all students. Danielle Plouffe, Learning Specialist at the Student Academic Success Service, facilitated problems as they arose and advised on services available for my disability-related needs. I am also indebted to Lieutenant-Colonel (ret) Karol Wenek, Director-General Conditions of Service at National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa, for kindly granting special leave to complete the work of writing the thesis. I wish to thank the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Political Science at the University of Ottawa for their financial aid resulting from teaching and research assistantships. I am most indebted to my husband, Dr. Karim E. Mattar, for his support and encouragement over the years. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Thesis Statement 2 Research Methodology 11 Spirit 16 Spirit, Nature and Finitude IB Spirit as World History, the Principal of Freedom 24 The Logical Dimension of Spirit 32 Hegel's Philosophical Interpretation of Christianity 37 Feminist Responses to Hegel 45 Related Critical Sources 51 Outline of Chapters 51 2. AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN HEGEL 54 Hegel's Treatment of Women: Logical and Historical Consistency 71 Spirit and The Science of Logic 75 The System of Objective and Subjective Logic 75 The Concept or Notion 77 Becoming 79 Substance 80 Essence 83 Correspondences in Logic and History of Spirit 86 3. HEGEL AND THE ANTIGONE OF SOPHOCLES 100 Statement of the Problem 100 The Ancient Ethical World 113 Feminist Responses to Hegel's Antigone Story 118 Antigone as a Rational and Self-Conscious Individual 122 Critical Theory and Post-Marxism 128 Luce Irigaray and "Difference" Feminism 131 Environmental and Ecofeminist Philosophy 137 Possibilities for Feminism in Hegel 138 Related Criticism 148 Conclusion 150 4. GREEK SPIRIT AS AN AESTHETIC SPIRITUAL UNITY 156 Ancient Spirit as an Aesthetic Spiritual Unity 163 Sittlichkeit 166 The Pantheon 168 Greek Spirit and the Role of the Artist as Agent of Transformation 182 Ethical Process of Human and Divine Law 189 iii Human and Divine Law 190 Conclusion..... 196 5. GREEK SPIRIT: BEAUTIFUL INDIVIDUALITY AND NATURE 200 The Definition of the Concept 204 The Concept of the Beauty of Art and the Ideal...... ...................... 208 The Limitations of Beautiful Freedom 217 6. GREEK SPIRIT AND LOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF FEMININE CONSCIOUSNESS 230 7. THE TRANSITION FROM THE GREEK TO THE ROMAN WORLD 258 The Ethical Order of the Polis 260 Essence and the Roman World 270 Christianity and the Reconciliation of the World 273 Conclusion 277 8. THE CHRISTIAN WORLD AND THEME OF RECONCILIATION 279 Chapter Summary 279 9. FEMININE CONSCIOUSNESS AND MODERN SUBJECTIVITY 301 Modern Family 306 Civil Society 310 State 314 Conclusion 320 CONCLUSION 323 The Transition from Greece to Rome 326 Feminist Philosophy and the Thesis Findings 331 BIBLIOGRAPHY 339 iv ABSTRACT FEMININE CONSCIOUSNESS AND GREEK SPIRIT IN HEGEL Hegel's inherently universal conception of modern subjectivity recognizes the principle of the modern subject is "the self-sufficient and inherently infinite personality of the individual." Hegel's deepest and most genuine intentions require all humanity to lead a universal life of full and concrete personhood in accordance with the definition of human nature as a concrete unity of substance and subject. These are not fulfilled in his treatment of feminine consciousness. Women have not been fully reconciled with modern subjectivity. The thesis investigates opportunities to systematically resolve the inconsistencies inherent in Hegel's feminine consciousness, consistent with his logical imperatives and genuine intentions. The main contribution will be to locate sources of the problem that have been identified but not fully analysed in the literature of feminist philosophy. Beyond the standard references (The Phenomenology ofMind and Philosophy of Right) the thesis examines other works, notably, Science of Logic and relevant passages from throughout the Realphilosophie including history, aesthetics, and the philosophy of religion. The problem is situated within the framework of Hegel's developmental account of historical Spirit. The special relationship between feminine consciousness and Greek Spirit is studied in Hegel's Antigone story. She represents the Beautiful Individual whose freedom lies in self-sacrifice for universal ends of the community. Hegel's theory of modern ethical life once again casts women in the dutiful role of Beautiful Individuals and leaves them to perform the essential function of preserving objective Spirit, at the expense of their own self-consciousness. The thesis studies Hegel's contradictory treatment of women in the larger context of his effort to systematically resolve the ancient conflict of Nature and Spirit integral to the character of the ancient subject. Antigone reappears as a sign that, notwithstanding the modern principle of subjective freedom and Christian egalitarian principles that underlie the secular world, Hegel was unable to rationally and logically resolve this problem. The development within the theory of modern ethical life of a responsible standpoint towards Nature and finitude is necessary, for Hegel's intentions for women and men to be realized. 1. INTRODUCTION Recent research concludes that Hegel's logical and historical account of objective Spirit leading to rational self-consciousness excludes feminine consciousness1 from participation in the dialectic of Spirit beyond the limits of the ethical world of the ancient Greek polis. By doing so, it denies to feminine consciousness opportunities for self- development and rational freedom in accordance with the principle of subjective freedom, "the self-sufficient and inherently infinite personality of the modern individual."2. Hegel described the ethical world of the Greek polis as the Kingdom of Beautiful Freedom, and the form of subjectivity native to this realm is known as beautiful individuality.3 The Antigone of Sophocles was important to Hegel because the heroine reaches the apotheosis