“Hegel and Socialism: A Third Current of Hegel’s Political Heritage”

A Lecture and Conversation with Axel Honneth

Thursday, October 8, 2026

Columbia University

There were the Right Hegelians and the Left Hegelians, but Professor Axel Honneth argues here for the importance of a third legacy, the Socialist Hegelian tradition. Listen here for Professor Honneth’s presentation and discussion with Prof. Bernard E. Harcourt of Columbia University.

Readings

Axel Honneth, “Reality or Appearance of Ethical Life? Hegel’s Analysis of the Market Economy”

Axel Honneth, The Idea of Socialism, trans. Joseph Ganahl (Polity Press, 2017)

G.W.F. Hegel, Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, chapter on “Civil Society,” trans. T.M. Knox (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952)