The Cunning of Geist Greg Novak

America went through a profound spiritual awakening in the 19th century, most commonly referred to as "New Thought."  Many leaders at this time credited Hegel  for laying the groundwork.  This episode explores several of the early developments in America, but such movements have also occurred across the globe at different times in various cultures. 

And there are many themes of this movement that echo Hegel, including:
 - There exists Infinite Intelligence, or the Absolute Idea as Hegel calls it, 
 - There is divinity or Spirit within each person, 
 - Mind and Nature are linked in Spirit,
 - Aligning your thoughts with Spirit is beneficial to oneself and the world,
 - Progress of Spirit in the world is historical. 

This New Thought movement continues today in various forms and incarnations the world over, and it has never been stronger.  And Hegel was one of its earliest pioneers.  But there is still much work to do.  This episode explores. 


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Free speech is of course linked to freedom.  And freedom is the cornerstone of Hegel's philosophy.  

Today free speech is an issue with respect to social media platforms, which are used by literally billions of people over the world.  Yes billions.  And who exactly controls what can be said on these platforms?  Up to now it has been a handful of executives.  And some claim that free speech has been curtailed to a degree favoring the views of these executives.  

Most nation-states have laws that govern the limits of free speech, such as libel, fraud, incitement, and sedition.  Do these laws apply the Internet?  

Hegel had things to say about free speech.  In his Elements of the Philosophy of Right he discusses it, and notes that it is the state that gives freedom to individuals, and if the state is destroyed, so is freedom, including free speech.  But he saw the problems inherent in democracies of competing factions.  And these problems are still being worked out some 200 years later.

This episode explores the issues surrounding free speech from an historical, philosophical, and Hegelian point of view, in light of the new Internet environment. 
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The word "spirit" has so many connotations. Per the thesaurus: character, courage, energy, enthusiasm, essence, heart, humor, life, mood, morale, quality, resolve, temperament, vigor, vitality, warmth, and will. 

Hegel had a different interpretation: God.  And he said it as clear as day.  

He defines God as the timeless Absolute Idea, the idea of ideas, self-thinking thought.  But is doesn't end there.  The Absolute Idea freely others itself in Nature, and enters this finite world as Spirit.  It does so to become actual, real, not just abstract truth.  

This episode reviews the etymology of the word "spirit" across different cultures - Greek, Latin, Hebrew, even Proto-Indo-European, up to the present day.  And then explores how spirit relates to Hegel's tripartite system, and finds its fulfillment in what Hegel calls True Infinity.  
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The term "paradigm "and "paradigm shift" were made famous by Thomas Kuhn in his landmark 1962 book, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions". 

Steven Covey describes a paradigm as "frames of reference, worldviews, . . through which we see everyone and everything, including ourselves.  . They affect the way we interpret what we see and experience, and how we interact and relate with others.”

The current naturalistic materialism paradigm of science (and much of the educated world) is beginning to show anomalies, particular in physics where the micro does not jibe with the marco.  And quantum physics itself does not have a consistently accepted theory underlying it. 

Hegel's philosophy has been called "a total system of the world, which included not only physics and the sciences, religion, ethics, but even a history of the world; . .  It was truly a theory of everything— We could really say this was the last great system,” (T. Cahoone).  

Does Hegel's framework represent the true paradigm we should be moving toward?  This episode explores. 
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Hegel saw the Absolute metaphorically as a "circle of circles" (SL, pg. 842, Miller trans.).  He also said philosophy itself "forms a circle" (PR, Wood, ed.,  Nisbet trans., pg. 26, ¶2).

Yet religions sees a creation event in our past, and modern science has embraced the Big Bang as the beginning of it all.  The universe is expanding and current theories show an eventual fizzle out into a "heat death."  Nothing will survive.  The end.  Full stop. 

Yet there is another scientific theory, proposed by Nobel prize winning physicist Roger Penrose, that suggests that this is all part of a cyclical process.  From the "death" of the finite universe a state of "infinity" will be reached and a new Big Bang will emerge.  

Any correspondence here to Hegel's circle?  This episode explores.  
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It is said that French philosopher Henri Bergson was the best known philosopher in his day during the early 20th century.  In fact, when giving a lecture in New York City, he caused the first traffic jam the city had ever seen.  

Although presently he is less prominent, there was much reason for his positive perception back then in philosophy circles. His concepts of duration, intuition, élan vital, and memory took on the established determinism of the day.  And Bergsonism is just as relevant as ever, as unfortunately naturalistic materialism remains the solidly entrenched dominant position.  

He was even one of the very few philosophers bold enough to broach the subject of comedy (Hegel also bravely ventured into this territory as well).  

All this is reviewed in the current episode.  Plus some thoughts on Bergson by my comedian daughter Jacqueline. 



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