Freedom and autonomy - Term Paper Example

inates in an individual’s full acceptance of the political rule of the state, because the ideals of mutual recognition are naturally engraved in the constitution of the sovereign state (Hegel 19). In other words, the basic interest or self-identity of every individual is attributed with ethical value in the general legitimacy and wisdom of the state. Hegel hence places the will to freedom in the historically actual agency of the supreme state. Hegel believes that the state represents the realization of social freedom.

This essay analyzes the argument of Hegel that freedom is only possible within the state. Hegel argues that the “ultimate phase of [national] consciousness, on which everything depends, is the recognition that man is free” (Moland 103). According to Hegel, it is only through the nation-state—which he defines as a cultural aggregation of people—that freedom is realized. Hegel makes use of the concept ‘rational’ to refer to aspects that advance freedom; in history, the advancement of freedom “explicates and manifests itself” (Moland 103) in nation-states.

The importance of a state does not depend on its distinctiveness or individuality that should then be safeguarded at all costs. A nation-state is an institution within which individuals can better attain freedom. Nation-states and their different features are exercised by world spirit to realize an increasingly actual achievement of freedom (Hegel 28). This advancement of freedom, Hegel argues, occurs in phases because different states embody different phases of the realization of freedom. A particular state can merely represent one phase of world history.

Once the role of a state in world history has ended, it can “no longer count in world history” (Moland 105). According to Hegel, only nation-states can play a role in world history. He argues: “In world history our topic can only be nations that form states. For it must be understood that only a nation that has become a