The Reconciliation Of Freedom And Sittlichkeit: Hegel’s Project Of Modernity

The constant practical troubles caused by liberalism in the modern age are making individuals more and more alienated from the social world.In this context,commentators returned to Hegel and regarded his theory of ethical life(Sittlichkeit)as an alternative to overcome the alienation of individual freedom and the social world.The present focuses on understanding the rationality and reality of Hegel’s concept of ethical life under the idea of freedom despite the majority of the prevalent interpretations of ethical life as reconciliation and unity of the social world and individual freedom are “the theory of social condition”,“the theory of objective structure” or “historicized mutual recognition”.The reason we take the perspective of Hegel’s idea of freedom as the entry point is that freedom constitutes an important aspect of Hegel’s concept of ethical life,and only based on Hegel’s new understanding of freedom,can the actualization of the reconciliation of individual freedom and the social world be appreciated appropriately.True freedom,for Hegel,is neither the negative freedom that is not subject to external restrictions and coercion,which is expressed by empiricists,nor the autonomy of will that excludes all accidental inclination and determinations,which is expressed by idealists,but the concrete freedom that is at home with oneself in one’s other.This definition implies that the will is willing to achieve its actuality and freedom in the other rather than remain in itself.Ethical life,in Hegel’s view,is just a place where freedom actualizes itself.Ethical life is the idea of freedom and the actualization of concrete freedom.Firstly,ethical life is an institutional and recognitional system constructed during the long-term life and social practice of human beings,in which people regard the social institutions and norms as the product of their own will and realization of their essence.Secondly,Ethical life,which provides practical reasons and institutional guarantee for individuals’ actions,constitutes the substantive foundation and realistic basis of free will.Thirdly,the institutions and norms in ethical life realize the objective freedom as well as subjective freedom of individuals.To be specific,ethical institutions and norms,on the one hand,provide individuals with social membership of self-identity so that individuals regard them as their essence and trust and acknowledge them subjectively.On the other hand,these institutions and norms satisfy individuals’ pursuit of subjective particularity,while enabling individuals through the estate to participate in public affairs and express their political freedom in the state.At a moment when liberalism is gradually declining,it’s meaningful to return to Hegel’s ethical project and highlight the substantiality of ethical life,for it is contributive for individuals to overcome the alienation and homelessness brought about by the notion of the abstract self in modern society and appreciate the essential value of leading a universal life.