In Defence of Hegel

Marxist Theory · 2026-05-13

Core Argument¶

The article argues that Hegel's dialectical method remains indispensable for Marxism, and that the widespread dismissal or distortion of Hegel in contemporary academia — particularly by postmodernists and neo-Kantian interpreters — is not a neutral scholarly development but a reflection of bourgeois ideology in decline. The central thesis is that Hegel's philosophy, once stripped of its idealist mystifications, provides the rational kernel of dialectical materialism, and that defending Hegel against his detractors is therefore a political task for Marxists. The article claims that postmodernism's rejection of "grand narratives," objectivity, and lawful development is not a break with Hegel but a regression to pre-Hegelian positions — Kantian dualism and ancient sophism — which Hegel himself had already refuted.

Theoretical Grounding¶

The analysis draws on the classical Marxist tradition's engagement with Hegel, particularly Marx's own characterisation in the Afterword to the second German edition of Capital and Engels' exposition in Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy. The article situates itself within the materialist inversion of Hegel: the dialectic is not the self-movement of the Absolute Idea but "the science of the general laws of motion, both of the external world and of human thought." It deploys the distinction between Hegel's revolutionary method and his conservative system, explaining the latter as a product of Germany's backward social conditions and Hegel's petty-bourgeois position. The argument also draws on Lenin's formulation that "Marxism is almighty because it is True" — meaning that Marxism derives its ideas from material reality rather than imposing a fixed schema upon it.

The article's theoretical lineage runs from Hegel through Marx and Engels to Lenin and Trotsky, with explicit reference to the tradition of dialectical materialism as developed by the revolutionary Marxist current. It positions itself against both the neo-Kantian reading of Hegel (Pinkard, Pippin, Di Giovanni) and the postmodernist appropriation of Hegelian themes (Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, Baudrillard).

Conjunctural Relevance¶

The article was published in August 2020, at a conjuncture marked by the deepening crisis of bourgeois ideology. The postmodernist currents it critiques — which reached their academic peak in the 1990s and 2000s — had by 2020 become the default common sense of large sections of the Western intelligentsia, particularly in the humanities. The article's intervention is timely because it identifies the material basis for this ideological degeneration: capitalism has reached its limits as a progressive force, and the bourgeoisie can no longer afford the truth. The "rejection of 'grand narratives' and 'universalism'" is not an innocent philosophical position but the ideological reflex of a class that has become a fetter on further development.

The article also addresses a specific conjuncture in Hegel scholarship: the publication of the Cambridge translation of Hegel's Science of Logic (2010), which systematically mistranslates Denken (thinking) as "discourse" — a move that smuggles postmodernist subjectivism into Hegel. This is not merely a philological dispute but a political one: if Hegel can be made to say that logic is about "discourse itself" rather than objective reality, then his dialectic is neutralised as a weapon against relativism.

Where the Argument Continues¶

The article is part of a broader body of work by Hamid Alizadeh and the In Defence of Marxism tendency that systematically defends the Hegelian-Marxist tradition against both academic distortions and opportunist deviations. The argument continues in several directions:

On the materialist inversion of Hegel: The article points to Engels' Ludwig Feuerbach as the classic exposition, but the fuller treatment of how Hegel's dialectic was transformed into dialectical materialism is developed in other IDOM articles on Marx's method and on the relationship between Capital and Hegel's Logic.
On the critique of postmodernism: The article's claim that postmodernism is a regression to pre-Hegelian positions is elaborated in other IDOM pieces that trace the lineage from Kantian dualism through Nietzsche to Foucault and Derrida.
On the political implications: The article's conclusion — that the working class needs dialectical materialism as its revolutionary philosophy — connects to the broader Marxist analysis of reformism and opportunism as expressions of bourgeois ideology within the workers' movement.
On Hegel's Logic itself: The article provides only a brief treatment of the opening categories (Being, Nothing, Becoming). A fuller exposition of Hegel's logical categories and their materialist appropriation is found in other IDOM texts and in the Marxist tradition's engagement with Hegel's Science of Logic (e.g., Lenin's Philosophical Notebooks).

Connections¶

Marx, Capital, Afterword to the Second German Edition: The classic statement of the relation between Marx's method and Hegel's dialectic.
Engels, Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy: The definitive Marxist account of Hegel's philosophy, its disintegration, and the rise of dialectical materialism.
Lenin, Philosophical Notebooks: Lenin's detailed study of Hegel's Science of Logic, which argues that "it is impossible fully to grasp Marx's Capital without having studied and understood the whole of Hegel's Logic."
Trotsky, In Defence of Marxism: Trotsky's polemics against the revisionist currents that sought to replace dialectical materialism with pragmatism or positivism.
Ilyenkov, Dialectical Logic: A Soviet Marxist's defence of Hegel's logic as the theoretical foundation of Marx's method.
Against the Stream episodes: The IDOM podcast series frequently returns to questions of method, the Hegel-Marx relation, and the critique of postmodernism.

Key Quotes¶

"The mystification which dialectic suffers in Hegel's hands, by no means prevents him from being the first to present its general form of working in a comprehensive and conscious manner. With him it is standing on its head. It must be turned right side up again, if you would discover the rational kernel within the mystical shell." (Marx, quoted in the article)
"The divorce between thought and thing is mainly the work of the Critical Philosophy [Kant's philosophy], and runs counter to the conviction of all previous ages, that their agreement was a matter of course. ... It marks the diseased state of the age when we see it adopt the despairing creed that our knowledge is only subjective, and that beyond this subjective we cannot go." (Hegel, The Encyclopedia Logic, quoted in the article)
"The absolute concept does not only exist — unknown where — from eternity, it is also the actual living soul of the whole existing world. ... According to Hegel, therefore, the dialectical development apparent in nature and history ... is only a copy of the self-movement of the concept going on from eternity, no one knows where, but at all events independently of any thinking human brain." (Engels, Ludwig Feuerbach, quoted in the article)
"Thus dialectics reduced itself to the science of the general laws of motion, both of the external world and of human thought — two sets of laws which are identical in substance, but differ in their expression in so far as the human mind can apply them consciously, while in nature and also up to now for the most part in human history, these laws assert themselves unconsciously, in the form of external necessity, in the midst of an endless series of seeming accidents." (Engels, Ludwig Feuerbach, quoted in the article)
"The truth has now become a revolutionary weapon in the hands of the working class. Therefore for Marxists, freedom today consists of recognising this process, participating in it as a conscious element rather than an unconscious one, and helping push humanity out of this dead end of class society." (Alizadeh, concluding the article)