Hagelianism

Dear Friends,

When I was in college I studied a lot of modern political philosophy and social theory, reading and writing papers about the theories of Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Max Weber and many others in the “DWM” (Dead White Male) pantheon.  I can’t say that I enjoyed studying all of these.  But, there was something about Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, one of the greats in that pantheon, that made me downright queasy.   Part of it, I’m sure, was that the translation from the German of any philosophical work typically makes difficult reading into something virtually impenetrable.  (Where is the verb?!)  Moreover, despite numerous lectures and discussions I never fully understood the infamous “Hegelian Dialectic.”  A few minutes of reading or listening to a lecture on it made my eyes roll back in my head.  And then there was the fact that that embedded in all of his German philosophic idealism was a pervasive and pernicious anti-Semitism.  Hegel had a profound influence on many later philosophers and writers who typically embraced his anti-Semitism as well.  Put briefly, I am not a fan.

Now, former Senator Chuck Hagel is not Georg W. F. Hegel.  As far as I know they are not related at all beyond the sound of their last names.  And Senator Hagel never said anything that approaches philosopher Hegel’s anti-Semitism (who said, for instance, that Germany cannot assimilate the Jews because the Jews live an “animal existence that can only be secured at someone else’s expense”).  Senator Hagel merely told Aaron David Miller, a former State Department Middle East negotiator, in 2006 when he didn’t sign a letter urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, “the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here.”  I’m sorry, Nicholas Kristoff, even if it may be reasonable to disagree with policies of the Israeli government it is not OK to use the term, “Jewish lobby,” when doing so. 

I understand that, despite this, AIPAC is not opposing the nomination of Senator Hagel as Secretary of Defense.  I guess that puts me to the right of AIPAC on this issue which may make some people chuckle.  But, there it is.  One of the biggest decisions that the Obama Administration will make in its second term is whether or not to bomb Iran.  It simply is not very reassuring to think that one of the people who will be making that decision might, possibly, maybe, be a little, teeny bit anti-Semitic.  The “Jewish lobby,” after all, is apt to be quite vocal about attacking Iran if it is apparent that Iran has the bomb.  Do we want someone as Secretary of Defense who might find the lobbying of said Jewish lobby offensive, or even off-putting?  It makes me feel, well, a bit queasy.

On that note, I wish you a happy, healthy and non-anxious Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom,
Jordan