Sally Sedgwick, a Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Boston University, and Robert Stern, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, delve into Hegel's revolutionary ideas on history and freedom. They discuss how Hegel viewed history as a progression of consciousness, questioning if we possess more freedom today than in the past. The conversation reveals Hegel's dialectical method, the interplay of individuality and historical forces, and his provocative notion of the 'end of history,' challenging listeners to consider the evolution of freedom and its implications.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss ideas of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770 - 1831) on history. Hegel, one of the most influential of the modern philosophers, described history as the progress in the consciousness of freedom, asking whether we enjoy more freedom now than those who came before us. To explore this, he looked into the past to identify periods when freedom was moving from the one to the few to the all, arguing that once we understand the true nature of freedom we reach an endpoint in understanding. That end of history, as it's known, describes an understanding of freedom so far progressed, so profound, that it cannot be extended or deepened even if it can be lost.WithSally Sedgwick Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Boston UniversityRobert Stern Professor of Philosophy at the University of SheffieldAnd Stephen Houlgate Professor of Philosophy at the University of WarwickProducer: Simon Tillotson