Considered by some the best introduction to and explication of the thought of German Idealist philosopher GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL (1770–1831), this 1896 translation by SAMUEL WATERS DYDE (b. 1862) of the philosopher’s great 1821 work offers a succinct but comprehensive discussion of concepts of free will. A philosophical disciple of Kant, Hegel saw that free will could exist only within the larger context of human life: of family, of work, of legality and morality—human freedom, Hegel believed could not exist in a vacuum but only via an individual’s interactions with the social networks of humanity.

Hegel’s understanding of the individual’s impact on such grand canvases as history itself exerted an unparalleled influence on German philosophy throughout the 19th century, including upon Karl Marx and his Communist Manifesto. Philosophy of Right, then, deserves a place in the essential library of anyone wishing to understand modern political thinking.