“Human Desire must be directed toward another Desire. For there to be human Desire, there must first be a multiplicity of (animal) Desires” (Hegel 5). Hegel was a German philosopher who studied the human’s self-consciousness. He firmly believed that all humans are born with a desire to be desired. Humans are all born with the desire to have some sort of power over others so they can be recognized and desired. He referred to these people as Masters and those who are below them are referred to as Slaves.
The reason that Hegel is so famous is because his work can be applied to many situations throughout history and even in today’s world. For example, it is easy to find many connections between Hegel’s beliefs and various religions such as, Judaism. Judaism is a monotheistic religion that was developed among the ancient Hebrews. It can be characterized by a belief in one transcendent God (Britannica). Judaism is a whole, complex way of life for the Jewish people; it entails theology, law, and innumerable cultural traditions. Judaism is a tradition based on the religious, ethical, and social laws that were written in the Torah, which is the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Patheos). Jewish people believe that humans are unlike heavenly creatures whose bodies and souls are both divine, and humans are unlike earthly creatures whose bodies and souls come from the Earth. Jewish belief is that humans are creatures whose souls are from heaven and whose bodies are from Earth. Moreover, they believe that if they obey God’s commandments then they will act as heavenly creatures, thus, being godlier. The Rabbis, which are the overseers of the Jewish church believe that the ultimate purpose in life is to praise God and to imitate God. Due to this, Jews often times viewed themselves as superior to most because in their teachings they were told that they were essentially God’s chosen people. They believed that if they followed the commandments that God had set in place then God will raise them above all nations.
How does this relate back to Hegel’s ideas? As stated earlier, Hegel believed that humans desire desire. They want to be recognized. The Jewish belief builds off of this idea. Their essential belief is that the better follower one is, the more heavenly one is. Those who follow God’s commandments are superior and those around them can see that. They can see that they are below those who are stricter on themselves with the teachings. This comes back around to Hegel’s idea of Master and Slave. One has more power and is recognized by others. However, this concept can apply to Judaism or any religion. God has ultimate power over Jews. They follow those teachings each and every day, they spread the teachings, and they act in a certain way so they can be more like God, the ultimate Master. This is where religion can become more subjective, because if God is real would he not be in his place of power because of his devout followers? Hegel said that humans can beat slavery, but how would one overcome a religion? A God? Would there even be a God without followers? According to Hegel there would be no Master without a Slave.
Works Cited
- “Judaism Origins, Judaism History, Judaism Beliefs.”Patheos, Patheos Explore the World’s Faith through Different Perspectives on Religion and Spirituality! Patheos Has the Views of the Prevalent Religions and Spiritualities of the World., patheos.com/library/judaism
- Vajda, Georges, and Haim Zalman Dimitrovsky.Judaism. 23 Jan. 2020, britannica.com/topic/Judaism