李榮添 : 歷史之理性 -- 黑格爾歷史哲學導論述析 ( Hoffmeister, Nisbet)

李榮添 : 歷史之理性 -- 黑格爾歷史哲學導論述析 ( Hoffmeister, Nisbet)
excerpted from Lectures on the Philosophy of World History : Introduction : Reason in History. Hoffmeister ed. tr. by Nisbet.
( Nisbet, page 71 )
page 71

1. In world history, the object of our enquiry is the Idea as it expresses itself through the medium of the human WILL ( 意志 ) or of human FREEDOM ( 獨立自主 ).

2. The WILL thereby becomes the abstract basis of FREEDOM, and gives rise to the entire ethical life of nations.

3. The first principle (1) of the Idea in this form, as already remarked, is the Idea itself as an abstract entity; and the second (2) is that of human PASSION ( 激情 ).

4. These two are the warp and weft in the fabric of world history. The Idea as such is the REALITY, and the PASSIONS are the ARM which serves it.

5. There are the extremes, and the middle point at which the two coincide and in which they are united is the state of ethical freedom.

6. The WILL of the individual is FREE, if he can determine his volitions abstractly, abstractly, and in and for himself.

7. How, then is it possible for the universal or the rational to determine anything whatsoever in history?