Praxis Seminar with Sally Sedgwick - Weltgeschichte als Weltgericht: Justifying Hegel’s World History and Philosophy of Right (Lisbon, March 3, 2026)

[praxis-cful]

Praxis Seminar — Research Colloquium in Practical Philosophy

Session #12: March 3, 2026, 17:15 (Lisbon Time, GMT+0)

Sala Mattos Romão (Department of Philosophy, Room C201.J) 

School of Arts and Humanities — University of Lisbon

Weltgeschichte als Weltgericht: Justifying Hegel’s World History and Philosophy of Right

Sally Sedgwick (Boston University)

Abstract

What can Hegel mean when he asserts in his Philosophy of Right that world history is “a court of judgment [Gericht]”? As he characterizes it, world history refers not to a domain of bare or unfiltered facts but to the “narrative [Erzählung]” that the historian or philosopher of history constructs in her reflective consideration of events and institutions of the past. Hegel claims, in addition, that his world historical narrative is a rationally justified “science” rather than an expression of mere opinion. His ambition of replacing opinion with rational justification seems dubious, however, if only because his grand narrative looks suspiciously self-serving. My intention in this talk is not to argue that Hegel’s treatments of the history of right and of world history leave nothing important out, nor do I suggest that his narratives are free of bias. Instead, I defend the thesis that his conception of the scientific nature of his enterprise requires him to be receptive to charges of this kind.

All our sessions are free and open to the public.

More information about this and other Praxis-CFUL events: https://cful.letras.ulisboa.pt/praxis/programme/praxis-seminar/

The Praxis Seminar is a weekly, in-person event organized by Praxis-CFUL, the Practical Philosophy Research Group of the Centre of Philosophy of the University of Lisbon. This event is funded by Portuguese national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., within the project UID/00310/2025 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/00310/2025).

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Praxis-CFUL

Practical Philosophy Research Group - Center of Philosophy, University of Lisbon

https://cful.letras.ulisboa.pt/praxis/

Alameda da Universidade

1600-214 Lisboa

Portugal