Introduction

The Introduction sets a stage for this volume’s exploration, addressing Hegel’s often marginalized significance in contemporary discussions of justice. It underscores the gap in literature on justice concerning Hegel’s political philosophy and advocates for the restoration of justice to the core of Hegel’s philosophy, highlighting the interplay between justice and freedom. The collection aims to elucidate and extend Hegel’s contributions to the understanding of justice, challenging conventional assumptions, while detailing how Hegel uniquely integrates justice into accounts of ethics, politics, and history. The diverse themes explored range from normativity to environmental justice, race, and gender theory. The Introduction then characterizes Hegel’s view on justice as linked to freedom. Emphasis on the mutual recognition as the norm of justice and the inseparability of justice and freedom is expounded. The comprehensive framework integrating individual freedom with just social relations is identified as a distinctive feature of Hegel’s philosophy. The Introduction communicates this volume’s overarching objective: to contribute substantively to a comprehensive and innovative reconstruction of Hegel’s theory of justice.