The Family and Civil Society in Hegel's Time

Hegel: Civil society in its pure form would be a free society of laissez-faire capitalism with a government to protect the rights of its citizens. The family is specifically characterized by love, he says; civil society is association of individuals seeking his own selfish ends and attaining them by means of trading with others by contractual cooperation. Individuals within civil society said Hegel have rights, and the rights are protected by laws - applied through the courts and enforced by the police. In civil society, the individual and the government come into an essentially hostile relationship.