Finite freedom: Hegel on the existential function of the state

Abstract

The article argues that Hegel's glorification of self‐sacrifice in war is grounded in a commitment to individual freedom. Anticipating the existentialists, Hegel believes that being a human individual—a subject who strives to self‐determination and “infinite uniqueness”—involves a contradiction with one's externally determined finitude, which evokes shame and fear of death. In modern civil society, many individuals experience their finite lives as secure and adequately expressive of their self‐determined uniqueness and are thereby relatively shielded from fear of death. For Hegel, I argue, this experience loses touch with a basic existential condition and coincides with a rigid and “spiritually dead” mindset he calls “self‐will.” Patriotism—including the willingness to self‐sacrifice—constitutes Hegel's remedy to this problematic. The state summons its citizens to face their finitude and thereby injects their lives with renewed vitality and sensitivity.