Half Hour Hegel In Wikipedia

I'm very happy to be able to report that the Half Hour Hegel series is now included as a recommended scholarly resource in the Wikipedia page for the Phenomenology of Spirit!

True, they have it listed (along with Bernstein's lectures) as "detailed audio commentary by an academic", which could give people the impression that it's a podcast if they're not paying close attention, but it also does say "YouTube" right next to the link - and if anyone clicks it, they go straight to the playlist.  In any case, since it's the infinitely revisable Wikipedia, I'm sure that dow the line they'll give it a fuller description.

What I find particularly gratifying about this inclusion is that it paves the way for further inclusions across the internet of this series as a resource for learners who want to do some serious, intensive study of Hegel's work.  Wikipedia has come a long, long way from its early days when many academics of my generation - and the older generations as well - formed a rather negative impression of its veracity and usefulness (this comic sketch manages to convey the gist of many of the complaints from back then), and we often recommended students not to rely upon it.

Wikipedia has become an integral part not only of the internet landscape, but even more importantly, an initial guide for learners engaging in research and inquiry.  So, if it sends people to the Half Hour Hegel series - whose entire purpose is making it possible for people worldwide to grapple with a major work of Western philosophy - that strikes me as a very good thing.

Video #100 in the Half Hour Hegel Series Published!

The Half Hour Hegel project has been underway for about two years at this point, we've made quite a bit of progress.  We're now just at the beginning paragraphs of the quite lengthy section, "Reason," but we're making good headway through the work, averaging about 6 videos per month.

With the single video devoted to the four paragraphs (240-243) at the very start of the first main sub-section of "Reason", i.e. "Observing Reason", we hit an mark - number 100!

There's nothing magical about that number of course, but it is a pleasingly rounded one, I have to admit.  And it provides a decent vantage point from which to look back over the two years of work, and the interactions with those who have been using, discussing, and (in some cases) supporting the production of this commentary on Hegel's Phenomenology.

Hegel Q&A Tomorrow Evening

Tomorrow evening - from 5 PM to 6 PM Central Standard Time - I'm holding the Public Half Hour Hegel Q&A Hangout for the month of February.

This is a free service I started to offer to the general public as part of the Half Hour Hegel Project once we passed a particular level of support from my Patreon crowdfunding backers (so if you go to the hangout and benefit from it, if you know any of them, make sure to thank them!)

I'll be posting the link to the hangout - once its opened - on my Facebook author page, on my Google+ page, and on my Twitter, so if you want to get in, you'll want to watch for it at one of those virtual locations.  You'll also need to have the Hangouts software on your computer or app on your phone.

Anyone is welcome to pop in, and I'll be giving priority to those who have actual questions for me.  Google at present only allows 10 people at a time to be fully present in the Hangout (i.e. through their own video), but anyone can watch and use the text box to ask questions or make comments.

So, if you've got a yen to talk some Hegel, mark it on your calendar, and watch for that Hangout link!

Starting A New Section - Reason

After making our way through the earlier parts of the work - the Preface, the Introduction, the three parts of Consciousness, and the three parts of Self-Consciousness - we are now moving into a much more voluminous section, Reason.

Running from paragraph 231 to number 437, this Reason section comprises 207 total paragraphs, a little over a quarter of the entire Phenomenology of Spirit.  So, I imagine we'll be working our way through this very interesting section for roughly about the next year. Or, perhaps for a bit longer time - though with luck, perhaps a bit more quickly. . .

At present, I've got the three first video commentaries from this section available.  Here they are:

Lecture 96 - paragraphs 231-232

Lecture 97 - paragraphs 233-234

Lecture 98 - paragraphs 235-236

Hegel Party to Celebrate Finishing Self Consciousness!

Over the last two years, supported through most of it by my Patreon backers (and I ought to mention, through all of it, by my wife, Andi Sciacca), I've produced 95 total videos in the Half Hour Hegel series, taking us all the way to end of the Self-Consciousness section.

That's a major milestone for this series, and I wanted to mark it by hosting a celebration of sorts -- an online Hegel party!  I'll be hosting it using the Google+ hangouts platform that I've used with the Q&A sessions.

I'll be opening the hangout this Sunday, from 2-3 PM Central Standard Time, though I may well stick around for a while longer.  I'll post the link to the hangout as soon as it opens on my social media - my Google+, my Facebook, and my Twitter.

I will definitely be enjoying some beer and chatting with anyone who shows up - about the project itself, about Hegel, and about anything else they like.  So join in, raise a glass, and celebrate this milestone with all of us!