Hegel and Religion: Avoiding Double Truth, Twice

25 Pages Posted: 12 Dec 2010

Date Written: December 11, 2010

Abstract

Hegel distinguishes religious representations from philosophical statements. In medieval times this issue led to accusations of "double truth" (that religion and philosophy are inconsistent with one another but both are true). This paper argues that Hegel skirts but avoids affirming double truth, two ways, because he removes religion from making factual statements about empirical matters, and for him philosophy is not about the career of a big cosmic entity. The paper makes an extensive comparison of how Hegel saw philosophy relating to empirical natural science with how he saw it relating to religious representations, which for him include much of what was called "natural theology." Hegel's Logic is not a study of any empirical or met-empirical entities.

Keywords: Hegel, Religion, Metaphysics, Vorstellung, Science

Suggested Citation

Kolb, David Alan, Hegel and Religion: Avoiding Double Truth, Twice (December 11, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1723963 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1723963

David Alan Kolb (Contact Author)

Bates College ( email )

204 Lane Hall
2 Andrews Road
Lewiston, ME 04240
United States

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