Interpreting Hegel’s India

There is no doubt that Georg W F Hegel remains an exceptionally powerful presence in the history of Western philosophy. However, even within this tradition, his place is not uncontroversial. In much of mainstream discussions, in what is sometimes called “analytic” philosophy, Hegel is largely ignored. However, on Karl Marx and Marxism, the British idealist tradition, existentialism, and more broadly speaking, on continental philosophy, his shadow has been immense. More recently, there have been important attempts to analyse his philosophical argumentation in relation to—and as reflective of—racism and imperialism. Susan Buck-Morris, Robert Bernasconi, and Ranajit Guha are important examples. Specifically, on Hegel’s treatment of India in his philosophical scheme, where imperialism and racism might well be seen to persist, there is William Halbfass, Merold Westphal, Teshale Tibebu, and Bernasconi, once again.

It is in this large, densely tangled, and forbidding context that Aakash Singh Rathore and Rimina Mohapatra enter with their edited volume, Hegel’s India: A Reinterpretation, with Texts. This volume is a collection of Hegel’s own writings on India, and is prefaced by an introductory essay by the editors, titled “A Re-interpretation,” which comprises close to a third of the entire text.