The Speculative Remark (One of Hegel's Bons Mots)

This work, by one of the most innovative and challenging of contemporary thinkers, pivots on a <i>Remark</i> added by Hegel in 1831 to the second edition of his <i>Science of Logic</i>. As a model of close reading applied both to philosophical texts and the making of philosophical systems, <i>The Speculative Remark</i> played a significant role in transforming the practice of philosophy away from system building to analysis of specific linguistic detail, with meticulous attention to etymological, philological, and rhetorical nuance.<br> <br> Nancy uses his extended examination of the <i>Remark</i> to delineate certain overall strategies in several Hegelian texts that militate for language-oriented readings of Hegel, as shown in Nancy's redefinition of such key terms as <i>Aufhebung</i>, <i>mediation</i>, and <i>speculation</i>. Nancy's reading progresses from speculative words and propositions to registering the speculative itself. While he avoids analyzing Hegel's system as such, Nancy reconstructs the Hegelian trajectory on a basis of tropes, building from propositions rather than structures, elements, and cycles.<br> <br> The overview that emerges in the final chapter and epilogue constitutes a broad statement about Hegel's practice and significance, one nuanced by close attention to his deployment of rhetoric and linguistic play. <i>The Speculative Remark</i> thus furnishes a model for a theoretically aware approach to all systematic philosophy, while providing a significant historical contribution to the evolution of contemporary critical theory.<br> <br>