Hegel and the secularization hypothesis
pp. 144-155
in: Joseph J. O'Malley, K Algozin, Howard P. Kainz, RICE (eds), The legacy of Hegel, Berlin, Springer, 1973Abstract
"To seek for a point in history in which the middle ages "end" and the modern world "begins' is a sheer absurdity. But that does not do away with the necessity of looking for an intellectual line of demarcation between the two ages."2 From Ernst Cassirer's monumental study, Das Erkenntnisproblem in der Philosophie und Wissenschaft der Neueren Zeit of 1906, to Hans Blumenberg's provocative and brilliant work, Die Legitimität der Neuzeit of 1966, the problematic of modernity has been the theme of countless books, essays and lectures. Since these quests for a concept of "the modern" may properly be thought of as "footnotes to Hegel," it is not surprising that Hegel's philosophy itself has been drawn into the controversy.
