Recasting Hegel's ethical theory

This study focuses on the contribution of George Wilhelm Hegel to the modern ethical reflection in which the state is understood as an ethical institution. The goal of this study is to recast Hegel's ethical theory in order to enable his ethical thought to contribute to contemporary reflection on global ethical issues. At issue in Hegel's discourse is the problem of individual and community freedom. Hegel's thesis hinges on the notion of the 'truth' as 'the whole.' In Herbert Marcuse's interpretation, the truth and the whole is freedom. Hegel's ethical theory aims to resolve the tension between individual and communal freedom by synthesizing the two poles to make an ethical whole, the possibility of which lies in the concept of 'recognition.' This study aims fill in the gap apparent in Hegel's synthesis of individual and communal freedom. I propose two principles: justice as fairness and reinterpretation of Hegel's idea of development of consciousness as the conditions for concrete realization individual and communal freedom.