Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit has a long-standing reputation as one of the key books in the history of Western philosophy, but many are unsure just what it is about. Even the words in the title are disputed: What sense of “phenomenology” is being used? Is Geist to be rendered “spirit” or “mind”? What does this have to do with Hegel's original title, “The Science of the Experience of Consciousness”? To add to the perplexity, Hegel developed his own technical vocabulary in writing the book, but the jargon he created never caught on and thus there is no common usage for it. As a consequence, both the beginner and the Hegel specialist must make key decisions about to understand many basic terms in the book.

This Oxford Guide walks the reader through this canonical text paragraph-by-paragraph using accessible and approachable language, such that both students and instructors--whether they come from philosophy, political theory, literature, or history backgrounds--will benefit.

Terry Pinkard is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Georgetown University. He has also taught philosophy at Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, Tübingen University, and Fudan University. His recent books include Power, Practice, and Forms of Life: Sartre's Appropriation of Hegel and Marx (2021), and a new translation of Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit (2018)