Hegel

American  

[hey-guhl] / ˈheɪ gəl /

noun

1. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich 1770–1831, German philosopher.

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Hegel British  

/ hɪˈɡeɪlɪən, ˈheɪɡəl, heɪˈɡiː- /

noun

1. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (ɡeˈɔrk ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈfriːdrɪç). 1770–1831, German philosopher, who created a fundamentally influential system of thought. His view of man's mind as the highest expression of the Absolute is expounded in The Phenomenology of Mind (1807). He developed his concept of dialectic, in which the contradiction between a proposition (thesis) and its antithesis is resolved at a higher level of truth (synthesis), in Science of Logic (1812–16)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Hegelian
  adjective
• Hegelianism
  noun

Example Sentences

Which fairly raises a few questions about the utility of employing Hegel as a guide to historical significance.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

Plato and Hegel, in case you were wondering.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

The conflict between right and wrong is far less compelling, as Hegel understood, than the collision of sides with competing claims to legitimacy.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2024

In a blog post to be published Thursday, Hegel said the digital indicators published by JumpCloud tied the hackers to activity previously attributed to North Korea.

From Reuters • Jul. 20, 2023

After the war’s end, however, he turned down Ernest’s offer to continue as the lab manager in order to resume the classroom teaching of Hegel and Marx.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik