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A review by hlouie
Emancipation After Hegel: Achieving a Contradictory Revolution by Todd McGowan
4.0
So I must start this review with saying that I hadn't even heard of Hegel or Kant or pretty much any philosopher until this book. I'm a complete noob when it comes to the philosophy world. It was only a few months ago when I joined a philosophy book club that I really began engaging with various philosophical ideas.
When it comes to this book, I can easily say it's not for any complete novice or beginner. I was a part of a book club that met weekly to discuss each chapter and that was incredibly helpful. It held me accountable to keep reading and digging in. I usually had to read the chapter twice and take notes as I went. However, I can say that it's definitely a book that you can read and re-read and get deeper insight with each reading.
With that said, the book and it's material isn't too far advance that you need any kind of philosophy degree or what have you. If you study it and do some of your own research, you can get a gist of what Todd McGowan is talking about. It was very interesting reading about Todd McGowan's interpretation of the dialectical method and how it isn't just a simple 3 step process, which is what I had initially been told. McGowan also seems to be a fan of psychoanalytic thought and Freudian themes definitely underpin his interpretation of Hegel. If you're not a fan of Freudian psychoanalysis, the ideas may be hard to digest and get behind; yet if you're open to them, I believe you can get some very interesting thoughts to ponder from the text.
The writing is good and easy to understand. Todd McGowan does his best to present complicated philosophical ideas in as simple of terms as possible. I enjoyed reading the book and got a lot out of it. But again, I also put a lot of work into understanding the ideas and that helped immensely. I would suggest someone know some of Immanuel Kant's work before you begin, as it will help in understanding what Hegel was trying to do in response to Kant. Overall, I found it to be a good book and an interesting experience.
When it comes to this book, I can easily say it's not for any complete novice or beginner. I was a part of a book club that met weekly to discuss each chapter and that was incredibly helpful. It held me accountable to keep reading and digging in. I usually had to read the chapter twice and take notes as I went. However, I can say that it's definitely a book that you can read and re-read and get deeper insight with each reading.
With that said, the book and it's material isn't too far advance that you need any kind of philosophy degree or what have you. If you study it and do some of your own research, you can get a gist of what Todd McGowan is talking about. It was very interesting reading about Todd McGowan's interpretation of the dialectical method and how it isn't just a simple 3 step process, which is what I had initially been told. McGowan also seems to be a fan of psychoanalytic thought and Freudian themes definitely underpin his interpretation of Hegel. If you're not a fan of Freudian psychoanalysis, the ideas may be hard to digest and get behind; yet if you're open to them, I believe you can get some very interesting thoughts to ponder from the text.
The writing is good and easy to understand. Todd McGowan does his best to present complicated philosophical ideas in as simple of terms as possible. I enjoyed reading the book and got a lot out of it. But again, I also put a lot of work into understanding the ideas and that helped immensely. I would suggest someone know some of Immanuel Kant's work before you begin, as it will help in understanding what Hegel was trying to do in response to Kant. Overall, I found it to be a good book and an interesting experience.