Hegel's Master And Slave Consciousness And The Philosophy Of History Revelation

The consciousness of mastery and slavery is one of the most famous chapters of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. It is also one of the most influential chapters in history. The consciousness of mastery and slavery is the starting point of civilization. With the generation of that consciousness the first form of civilization, the institution of slavery, was born. The theory of Hegel's consciousness of mastery and slavery is very important for us to understand the essence of slave-owner's state.This article is divided into two parts, the first part illustrates Hegel's consciousness of mastery and slavery, including two chapters. The first chapter expatiates the relationship of desire and life with self-consciousness. The second one expounds the fighting for recognition and this consciousness of mastery and slavery ensuing from the fighting. The second part illustrates the great significance of lordship-bondage consciousness for us to understand the ancient slavery of the east and west .This article's study on this ancient slavery indicates that the fighting for the recognition is the essence of western classical slavery, the representative is the slavery of ancient Greece and the Romans, and the fighting for survivance is the essence of eastern slavery, the representative is China.