| The dissertation presents the first metaphilosophical reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit in any language (a part of a bigger work, or 600 out of circa 3000 pages). It seeks to break with the ubiquitous conventional paradigm and practice of dealing with the said work piecemeal and in isolation, which generates knowledge, not comprehension. The conventional paradigm originated when Hegel excluded the Phenomenology from his system, having written it specifically for the system. This exclusion insinuated the independence of the Phenomenology, and inadvertently encouraged centuries of its misreading, which the dissertation views as the "loss" of the work. The only remedy is the proposed metaphilosophical reading, whose approach retrieves Hegel's original intent, capturing the Phenomenology in terms of its architectonical purpose and meaning---as the introduction to Hegel's system qua preparation. Hence, it is read here as a whole, in the architectonical setting of Hegel's original idea of philosophy, whereby the Phenomenology cannot be independent or "retailed," being inseparable from what it prepares, Hegel's system (the latter not discussed). The dissertation grasps the Phenomenology as a unique kind of introduction in world philosophy: preparing man for philosophy, not introducing philosophy to man. To showcase the theory and practice of the metaphilosophical reading of the Phenomenology, the dissertation shadows the structure of Hegel's work, but also creates a metaphilosophical textual frame necessary to highlight the metaphilosophical significance of Hegel's Phenomenology. The introductory part discusses all conditions of the metaphilosophical reading. The central part offers a complete retrieval of the phenomenological dialectic of the Phenomenology, but according to new guidelines. The dissertation concludes with a comprehensive metaphilosophical postscript, exploring open issues and post-phenomenological perspectives, unavailable to the conventional reading. |
