[Ads-l] Hegel Passage

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Laurence Horn wrote:
> I kind of like another line of Hegel's, which is easy to find on the internet
> (attributed to Hegel but without a specific source cited) but which I’d love
> to be able to cite with greater confidence. According to legend, Hegel
> stated on his deathbed:
>
> †Only one man ever understood me, and he didn’t understand me."
>
> I annotate this line with the diacritic † indicating that it’s only well-formed
> when uttered on one’s deathbed (and possibly only if the speaker is Hegel).
>
> Presumably this would not be sourced in Hegel's own work, but maybe in a
> memoir of someone present at the occasion?  It would be nice to be able to
> confirm that this line (or more exactly its German equivalent) was uttered on
> that one occasion.

Here is a book in English in 1847 that contains a footnote with a
pointer to a book in German in 1834 (citation not yet verified by me).
Hegel died in 1831.

Year: 1847
Title: The Crisis of Popular Education: Its Historical, Internal,
Statistical, Financial, and Political Relations.

https://books.google.com/books?id=35BeAAAAcAAJ&q=+%22Nur+einer%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt - check for typos and missing diacriticals]
Sie klagen beständig über Nichtverstandenwerden. Als Hegel auf dem
Todtbette lag, sagte er, 'nur einer hat mich verstanden;' aber gleich
darauf fügte er verdriesslich hinzu: 'und der hat mich auch nicht
verstanden.'

Der Salon, von H. Heine: Zweiter Band. S. 220. Hamburg, 1834.
[End excerpt]

Below is a later citation:

Date: October 1894
Volume 5, Number 1
Periodical: The Monist
Section: Book Reviews
(Review of "History of Modern Philosophy from Nicholas of Cusa to the
Present Time" by Richard Falckenberg)
Start Page 120, Quote Page 122

[Begin excerpt - double check for typos]
The universal complaint of German philosophers, says Heine is das
Nichtverstandenwerden, "not being understood," "Nur einer hat mich
verstanden," said Hegel plaintively on his deathbed, "Only one man
ever understood me," and, as the appalling implications of that
confession dawned upon him, he turned and added in his last gasp, "und
der hat mich auch nicht verstanden," "and he didn't understand me
either!" Yet it would be wrong, from Heine's witticism, to suppose
that Hegel's work was all for naught in the history of philosophy.
[End excerpt]

Garson


>> On Apr 19, 2017, at 11:56 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU> wrote:
>>
>> According to HathiTrust
>>
>> Hegel-Jahrbuch 1984-1985 pages 72, 77, and 78 have "difference in kind" and page 80 has "difference in degree."
>>
>> SG
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of Shapiro, Fred <...>
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2017 10:33 AM
>> To: ...
>> Subject: [ADS-L] Hegel Passage
>>
>> I have been asked to locate a famous Hegel passage in which he says that difference in kind can sometimes convert to difference in degree.  I can find only vague references that do not cite to a specific passage.  Can anyone help with this?
>>
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>
>>
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=DwIFAw&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=Ar6dBUEMSvaRpiNSRdnCplyTQQFyFOFNZ7NcrKmhr8s&s=r7F6O66Ws6gGAbWPVC5MmaCDzWy43Dz5hDBsvxDRVaI&e=>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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