Hegel and the Logical Structure of Love

This study presents an original interpretation of the meaning and complex inter-relationship of the concepts of love, sexuality, family and the law. It argues that they should be understood as forms of interplay between the subjective and the objective, necessity and contingency and unity and difference. A comprehensive elaboration of these forms is to be found in Hegel’s Science of Logic—the conclusions of which he used to organise his ethical and political thought. The argument is introduced with a discussion of the relevance of Hegel’s speculative philosophy to modernity. The authors then explore the relationship between thought, being and recognition in Hegel’s philosophical system and offer an interpretation of the Science of Logic. This interpretation forms the basis of a re-assessment of Hegel’s treatment of love, sexual relationships, the family and law. A Hegelian account of familial love is employed to review recent debates within a range of discourses, including feminism, family law and gay and lesbian studies. As well as addressing current concerns about sexual difference and the ontology of homosexuality, the study provides a guide to reading Hegel in an original and productive way. It will be of interest to philosophers, feminists, theorists of sexualities, ethical and legal theorists.