The St Louis Hegelians

'The St. Louis Hegelians are an almost entirely forgotten phenomenon today. Yet those who happen upon their works today are nearly always astounded by them -- by their depth and sophistication, by their imaginative analysis of American history, and by the boldness with which they moved beyond the dogmas of nineteenth-century individualism to posit a fresh vision of the modern nation-state, and the individual's stake in it. All the more reason, then, to be grateful for this generous selection of their works, which will make their ideas accessible once again, and remind us of the extraordinary burst of creative energy and dialectical imagination they embodied.'
--Wilfred M. McClay

These three volumes make available rare primary source material that will greatly facilitate research on the St. Louis Hegelians. The thought and activities of this loosely organized group of philosophers was instrumental in the crucial shift from nineteenth-century laissez-faire individualism to the institutional liberalism of the Progressive Era, and they influenced intellectuals as diverse as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, John Dewey, and Jane Addams. The first volume of this collection focuses on the origins of the movement, the St. Louis Hegelian's critique of 'brittle individualism,' and the 'agnostic materialism' of Herbert Spencer. The volume features articles by principal St. Louis Hegelians -- W. T. Harris and Denton Snider -- and includes debates with American and European intellectuals -- G. S. Morris, Augusto Vera, Karl Rosenkranz and Franz Hoffman -- about the ability of Hegel's dialectic to account adequately for the reality of the individual within the greater whole. The second volume includes essays by Snider, Harris, Rosenkranz, Thomas Davidson and Adolph Kroeger, and focuses on the St. Louis Hegelians' philosophical interpretation of American history, especially the Civil War, and their efforts to develop a philosophy of cultural and national unification. Volume three is a collection of the St. Louis Hegelians' writings on aesthetics and art history, a crucial element of their philosophy of cultural unification, and includes articles by Henry Conrad Brokmeyer, Morris, Snider, Davidson and William Bryant.

As a whole, these volumes demonstrate the St. Louis Hegelians' engagement with a wide variety of intellectuals and philosophical issues, and reveal their centrist social and political philosophy. Making an extensive selection of scarce and out of print materials available, this set allows a full assessment of the movement for the first time.

--provides primary source material on the St. Louis Hegelians that has been out of print for many decades
--demonstrates the St. Louis Hegelians' influence on many important American intellectuals and the part they played in the transition from nineteenth-century individualistic liberalism to Progressive Era institutional liberalism
--demonstrates the appeal of Hegel to American intellectuals and reveal the ways they sought to adapt Hegel's thought to the American context, in many ways anticipating twentieth-century readings of Hegel
--all materials are reset, annotated, indexed and enhanced by new editorial introductions