Hegel – a critic or a defender of Kantian modernity ?

Abstract

The article aims to explain and analyse Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s two main critiques on Kantian concept of  modernity; the beautiful soul critique and the totalitarian state critique, as well as to provide a concise summary of Hegel’s account on modern state and modern law. The article argues that Hegel’s modernity and the Kantian liberal modernity actually share the same roots, but they have grown apart, and Hegel’s account has extended itself to a rather anti-liberal sphere. However, Hegel’s philosophy cannot be labelled as either pure Kantian liberal or pure authoritarian. His theory should be viewed as a telos which humans aim to achieve and  his theory should be used as a standard state to assess our current society.