Introduction

The Introduction develops the idea that Hegel’s philosophy is distinctive by its endorsing an artifactual paradigm for philosophy, in contrast to a natural one. The artifactual paradigm says that our knowledge of humanly constructed artifacts, rather than natural things represent the standard-setting case for objects of philosophical knowledge. The world of spirit or Geist is thus the central topic of philosophy. But the philosophical basis for the centrality of Geist is Hegel’s theory of concepts. Hegel presents a theory of concepts which allows for concepts not only to represent their objects but also to constitute them, akin to the artifactual production of an object. This interpretation contrasts with metaphysical readings of Hegel that make “the Concept” a part of the structure of reality, as well as with more deflationary interpretations that understand Hegelian concepts on the model of Kantian categories.