Martin Heidegger’s Hegel is one of the most important engagements with the monumental legacy of German Idealism, especially the thought of G.W.F. Hegel. Comprising two distinct yet deeply interconnected treatises—“Negativity: A Confrontation with Hegel Approached from Negativity” and “Elucidation of the ‘Introduction’ to Hegel’s ‘Phenomenology of Spirit’”—this volume, translated by Joseph Arel and Niels Feuerhahn, offers a rare glimpse into Heidegger’s sustained dialogue with Hegelian philosophy during a critical period in his intellectual trajectory. Within these writings, Heidegger not only confronts Hegel’s dialectical method and metaphysical system but also intertwines this confrontation with his own ground-breaking exploration of negativity, the essence of being, and the abyssal character of truth.
The first treatise, “Negativity,” represents a bold and fragmentary inquiry into the foundational role of negativity in Hegel’s philosophy, particularly as articulated in his Science of Logic. For Heidegger, Hegel’s entire system is characterized by the primacy of negativity as the “energy” of thought, the dynamic force through which being and nothingness interpenetrate, forming the dialectical structure of becoming. However, Heidegger challenges Hegel’s presupposition that negativity can be fully subsumed into the positivity of absolute knowledge. He argues that Hegel’s system ultimately elides the ontological difference between being and beings, reducing the abyssal nature of being itself to a mere function of thought’s self-mediation. Heidegger’s own philosophical project—centered on beyng-historical thinking—seeks to uncover the forgotten ground of this difference, reinterpreting negativity not as a subordinate moment within the dialectical process but as the foundational clearing where the truth of beyng manifests as an abyssal nothingness that resists total conceptualization.
The second treatise, “Elucidation of the ‘Introduction’ to Hegel’s ‘Phenomenology of Spirit,’” shifts the focus to the phenomenological method and the nature of experience in Hegel’s thought. Here, Heidegger provides a rigorous paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of the “Introduction” to Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, seeking to illuminate Hegel’s concept of appearing knowledge and the process through which consciousness attains absolute knowing. While Heidegger acknowledges the depth of Hegel’s insights into the essence of experience and self-consciousness, he simultaneously critiques the ontotheological framework that underpins Hegel’s metaphysics. For Heidegger, the phenomenological unfolding of spirit as the self-manifestation of absolute reason overlooks the more primordial disclosure of being itself, which cannot be exhausted by the dialectical progression of self-conscious thought.
Throughout the volume, Heidegger’s confrontation with Hegel is marked by a dual movement: an intimate engagement with Hegel’s texts that seeks to inhabit their inner logic, and a radical deconstruction (Abbau) that exposes their limitations from the standpoint of Heidegger’s own thinking. This dual movement is evident in Heidegger’s treatment of key Hegelian concepts such as “negativity,” “becoming,” and “absolute knowing.” For Hegel, negativity operates as the motor of the dialectical process, culminating in the self-reconciliation of spirit. For Heidegger, however, this reconciliation prematurely forecloses the more essential questioning of negativity’s origin, which lies not in the self-sublation of thought but in the abyssal clearing of being where beings emerge and withdraw.
The translators’ introduction provides invaluable guidance to this dense and fragmentary text, elucidating Heidegger’s unique philosophical vocabulary and situating the treatises within the broader context of his oeuvre, particularly the Contributions to Philosophy and other works from the late 1930s and early 1940s. Arel and Feuerhahn’s careful translation preserves the subtle nuances of Heidegger’s German, including his inventive use of hyphenation and his elliptical style, while offering readers a clear and accessible entry point into these challenging writings. The translators also address key terminological choices, such as their rendering of Anfang as “beginning” and Beginn as “inception,” as well as their decision to translate Abbau as “dismantling” rather than “deconstruction,” thereby emphasizing the historical and methodological specificity of Heidegger’s engagement with Hegel.
One of the most striking features of this volume is the way it combines Heidegger’s confrontation with Hegel’s philosophy into the broader trajectory of Western metaphysics. Heidegger positions Hegel as the culmination of the metaphysical tradition inaugurated by Plato, a tradition that progressively obscures the truth of being by subordinating it to the representational logic of thought. At the same time, Heidegger recognizes in Hegel’s philosophy a profound necessity—the necessity of confronting the totalizing drive of metaphysics in order to prepare for a new beginning. This “other beginning” demands a radical rethinking of negativity, being, and truth, one that moves beyond the metaphysical framework of subjectivity and objectivity and opens up a more originary experience of beyng as event (Ereignis).
While Heidegger’s interpretations of Hegel are undoubtedly challenging, they offer unparalleled insights into the philosophical stakes of engaging with one of the most comprehensive and systematic thinkers in the Western tradition. By tracing the limits of Hegel’s dialectical method, Heidegger not only deepens our understanding of Hegel’s thought but also advances his own project of questioning the history of being. This volume is therefore essential reading for anyone interested in the intersections of phenomenology, metaphysics, and the history of philosophy.
In Hegel, Heidegger compels readers to grapple with the profound ambiguities and tensions that arise in the encounter between two of the most significant philosophical minds of the modern era. Through its meticulous attention to the texts of Hegel and its relentless questioning of their presuppositions, this volume challenges us to think anew the fundamental issues of negativity, being, and truth. It is a work of immense philosophical depth and rigor, one that demands and rewards careful study, and one that remains as vital today as it was at the time of its composition.
Simon Gros 
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