Demokratie und die dialektische theorie der geschichte

Werner Becker

pp. 177-190

in: Yirmiahu Yovel (ed), Philosophy of history and action, Berlin, Springer, 1978

Abstract

The picture of German philosophy of history is today largely dominated by Hegel and Marx. But the characteristic feature of the historical theories of Hegel and Marx does not lie in their being theories of lawlikeness in history, nor are they problematic merely because philosophical theories of this kind cannot easily be demonstrated with the aid of empirical methods. It is shown that the most important characteristic of the philosophies of history of Hegel and Marx should be seen in the fact that they seek to use philosophical (Hegel) or alternatively scientific (Marx) methods in order to provide a basis for political evaluations. The best known of these political value concents is the concept of alienation. This concept plays a great role in both Hegel and Marx. It is shown that the paradigm employed by Hegel and Marx to provide a basis for the philosophy of history and of society, stands in opposition to the manner in which values and value concepts are legitimated according to the concept of liberal democracy. This consequently means that Hegel's and Marx's concepts of the state are in contradiction with liberal democracy's understanding of the state.

Cited authors

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich

Marx Karl