The owl of Minerva and the dialectic of human freedom

A heterodox reading

Bibliographic Data

ID11340807
AuthorsBernardo Ferro (0000-0003-1161-5476, University of Coimbra, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume51
Issue5
Pages833-852
Publication date2025-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy & Social Criticism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0191-4537 • E-ISSN: 1461-734X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/01914537231171418
OpenAlexW4372352840
LanguageEN
References cited10

In the preface to the Philosophy of Right , Hegel compares the philosopher’s work to the flight of the owl of Minerva: just as the latter begins only with the fall of dusk, so too is philosophy bound to ‘come on the scene’ too late to teach ‘what the world ought to be’. This well-known passage has been read in many quarters as a heavy, if not fatal blow to philosophy’s critical role. While some interpreters regard Hegel’s metaphor as an outright rejection of critical theory, others see it as a restriction of philosophy’s normative dimension. In this article, I argue against both of these interpretations. In my view, Hegel’s methodological indications are not incompatible with a critical outlook on received reality. What is more, they do not preclude the possibility of a radical critique of received reality. To show why, I argue that the Philosophy of Right is primarily aimed at a normative reconstruction of existing social and political arrangements, which entails both a retrospective and a prospective dimension. Moreover, I claim that this duality is one of the most original features of Hegel’s practical thought, and the key to its enduring political relevance

Dialectic · Epistemology · Hegelianism · Metaphor · Normative · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism · Political Philosophy and Ethics

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