Abstract

THOMPSON, Michael J.. Hegel's anti-capitalist state. discus.filos [online]. 2013, vol.14, n.22, pp.43-72. ISSN 0124-6127.

I argue that Hegel's concept of the modern state is formulated in such a way as to be anti-capitalist. Hegel conceives of the modern state as advancing the universal will of the political community, I argue that the nature and structure of capitalist social relations are anathema to this project. Although Hegel provides a defense of modern market societies, he calls into question their corrosive effects on society as a whole. By seeing capitalism as more than simply a market-based organization of society, I argue that Hegel's concept of the state is in contradiction with the logic of capital as a social institution. Since the logic of capital forces other spheres of society to become dependent upon it as well as integrate social agents into forms of social life that do not serve universal ends, it constitutes a contradiction with the very purpose of the rational state as Hegel conceives it.

Keywords : capitalism; freedom; Hegel; obligation; political economy.

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