Between Kant and Hegel: Lectures on German Idealism Book

Review to Follow Upon Completion

Meanwhile...

Elucidation of the Inversion

In a passage about the German philosopher F.H. Jacobi on page 110, Henrich throws some light on Marx' comment about turning Hegel upside down or right side up:

"Jacobi underscored the absurdity of Spinoza's position when he said, 'but, unfortunately, he who has once fallen in love with certain explanations will accept, like the blind, any conclusion whatsoever that follows from a proof he cannot refute, even if it means that he will be walking on his head.'

"In response, Hegel quipped that this was the great event of the French Revolution: that man started to turn himself upside down, actually to walk on his head, that is, to construct human society and thus human life rationally.

"Without quoting Jacobi, Hegel echoes him: 'Since the sun has risen and the stars are shining in the skies, no one noticed,' says Hegel, 'that man started to walk on his head.' 13

"In a later rejoinder, Karl Marx added, 'What I had to do was turn Hegel from his head back to his feet, so that we can start walking again.' 14

"'Walking' here means advancing to philosophy's real goal, not just interpreting the world, and although Marx did not know it, he echoes Jacobi's criticism. For Marxism also implies that there is something that cannot be constructed and explicated in the sense in which the idealists tried to construct and explain everything."