ONLINE FIRST
published on June 5, 2015
Henry Southgate
https://doi.org/10.5840/owl20156111
The Paradox of Irrationalism
The Logical Foundation of Hegel¡¯s Philosophy of the Absurd
I resolve a tension in Hegel¡¯s views, which I call the ¡°paradox of irrationalism,¡± in order to lay the logical foundation of Hegel¡¯s philosophy of the absurd. The paradox is that Hegel both affirms and denies that the world is rational. While critics maintain that this presents a genuine problem for Hegel, I argue Hegel resolves this paradox by showing that reason constitutes itself through the irrational element that it itself grounds. I make my case by investigating the categories of diversity and contingency, which are central to the paradox of irrationalism and Hegel¡¯s account of human agency.