French Neo-Hegelianism in Four Acts

Abstract

The review presents the recently published monograph of Ivan Kurilovich “French neohegelianism: J. Wahl, A. Koyré, A. Kojève and J. Hyppolite in search of a unified phenomenology of Hegel – Husserl – Heidegger”. The book is dedicated to the history of the reception of the Hegel’s ideas in France in 1920–1960s. I. Kurilovich suggests his overview of the development of neo-hegelianism in its interconnection with the phenomenology, he analyses different versions and interpretative strategies on Hegel’s legacy: the theory of “malheur de la conscience” by J. Wahl, the epistemological framework suggested by A. Koyré, the phenomenologically-oriented interpretation of “Hegel – Heidegger” by A. Kojève, and the historical-philosophical reconstruction of Hegelian philosophy by J. Hyppolite. I. Kurilovich demonstrates the significant results of the interference between the ideas of Hegel and Husserl, Hegel and Heidegger. He problematizes the historical and philosophical concept of neo-hegelianism as such and demonstrates its ambiguity, as well as the lack of the direct intellectual lineage of its representatives. The book provides an opportunity to work with well-structured and informative historical content, which includes biographies and philosophical views, and gives a sophisticated view on the “conflict of interpretations” of Hegelian philosophy, suggested by J. Wahl, A. Koyré, A. Kojève and J. Hyppolite.