David M. Parry

(1958 - 2017)

Every reader of Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit" has puzzled over the references to the -we- and the related notion of the -for us- which occur throughout the text. Hegel claims that this -we- contributes a -way of looking at the matter- which serves as the means whereby the succession of experiences through which consciousness passes is raised to a scientific progression. "Hegel's Phenomenology of the -We-" is the first book-length study of the role of the -we- in Hegel's "Phenomenology." It provides a comprehensive yet detailed analysis of the -we's- role in the text and contains a useful appendix documenting the occurrences of the -we- in the text."

This thesis is a study of the role of the "we" in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. In the Introduction to the Phenomenology Hegel claims that this "we" contributes a specific way of looking at the stages of consciousness under its examination which raises the succession of experiences through which consciousness passes to the level of what he calls a "scientific progression." This thesis takes up the question of the role of the "we" by examining its behavior throughout the course of the Phenomenology. ;The first chapter examines the question of the referent of the "we" and offers several provisional hypotheses concerning the "we" and the Phenomenology as a whole. The second shows how the Preface is designed to allow the reader to enter into the perspective of the "we." The third shows that the "we" is an integral part of Hegel's method as it is explained in the Introduction. The fourth shows how, in the first three chapters of the Phenomenology, the "we" is substituted for and engages in a mimesis of the consciousness under consideration. The fifth studies the relationship between the "we" and self-consciousness. The sixth shows how the "we" engages in various types of recollections in Hegel's chapters on Reason and Spirit. The seventh shows the decisive role that the "we" plays in the organization of the Phenomenology by examining several passages in Hegel's chapter of Religion. The final chapter shows how Absolute Knowing is brought forth by the activity of the "we." ;This thesis also contains an appendix that lists all of the places where the "we" occurs in the Phenomenology and quotes the English translation of the most important passages