Real words : language and system in Hegel / Jeffrey Reid.

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Real Words presents an original way of understanding one of the most important philosophers in the Western tradition.

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CHOICE Review

Reid (Univ. of Ottawa) offers here a collection of essays, most previously published. Real Words does not consist of a linear argument, but instead develops several points in various contexts. Its points are compressed, and so not fully articulated. Reid interprets Hegel as arguing that language is the middle term between mind and world. Language connects thought and being, such that the signifier and the signified are identical in language. The meanings of words are objective, rather than the subjective and arbitrary assertions of individuals. The content of philosophy is language, and so philosophy is always the philosophy of something, such as art, history, mind, or nature. Philosophy is the unification of thought and world in language as found in the various disciplines. Nature becomes part of Hegel's system as mediated through the findings of the sciences, for example, and it is through written accounts that history is appropriated. Reid denies that the world has a dialectical development. What dialectically develops is language as it connects thought and world. Reid explicates Hegel's claims, but he does not evaluate them. Summing Up: Optional. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. J. M. Fritzman Lewis and Clark College