A Research On Hegel's Philosophy Of The Family Law

For quite some time, Hegel's theory of family have been questioned for its conservatism, most researchers denounce it as a defense of obsolete familial practices and institutions. This paper, based on the reading of Philosophy of Right, aims at studying all aspects of Hegel's philosophy of family law in hope to explore the original meaning and grounds of Hegelian family thought, criticism it receives and the reason of these criticism, as well as the defense which can be expected to be given.Introduction of this paper sorts out some of the domestic and overseas relevant researches on Hegelian philosophy of family law, and this paper is divided into five parts except for the introduction and conclusion:The first part introduces the Western concept of family, particularly the concept of Aristotle, Kant, Fichte and the German Romantics, which has a major impact on the formation of Hegelian family thought. In Aristotle's view, the family is an integral part of the polis but do not belongs to the field of ethical life, while Kant and Fichte leave a path to the morality for the family. The German Romantics focus on the emotional dimension of family and consider family as the completely separate social existence.The second part carries out an overarching analysis on the unique of philosophy of Hegelian philosophy of family law, namely, the ethical substantiality of family. In Hegel's view, the family, as a moment of ethical substance, functions as an important connecting link between the preceding and the following. Family completes the unity of the individual and the universal through love, at the same time, becomes ethical substance with special determination because of its natural character.The third part investigates the marriage as the basis of the family. Marriage is rightfully ethical love, whereby Hegel distinguishes his view of marriage from the ones of naturalism, contractarianism and romanticism which prevail at that time. According to Hegel, the end of marriage is to achieve substantial unity, for this reason, to enter the state of marriage becomes an ethical duty.The fourth part conducts a research on the family capital. Family capital as the external existence of family, is the indispensable part of Hegelian family theory. Family capital is not only material guarantee of the physiological existence of family members, but also external conditions by which the family and its members gain recognition. Family capital has important function, on the one hand, it endows the family with external reality, on the other hand, it has an important purification function in modern society. In Hegel's view, family capital, jointly owned by family members in nature, is acquired through the participation in civil society and managed by male as husband or father.The fifth part analyzes the dissolution of the family. In Hegelian ethical system, the family, as the immediate and natural ethical substance, will transit to the higher ethical stage, therefore, the dissolution of the family is an inevitable ending. To be specific, there are three situations of dissolution as follows: the legal, the natural, and the ethical. The family disintegrates either due to the breakdown of marriage, or as parents die, or because children grow up to separate themselves from original family, and that is the ethical mission of family. The transition from family to civil society, then to the state, is the development process of ethical life, as well as the actualization process of freedom.The conclusion of this paper reveals the historical background under which Hegel constructs his philosophy of family law, indicating that Hegel is in fact, under circumstances where modern economic relations have an impact on the traditional social order, attempting to keep a habitat immune to economic rationality for moderns.