History

The International Hegel-Society (Internationale Hegel-Gesellschaft e.V.), headquartered in Berlin, is the oldest society dedicated to Hegelian philosophy. Arising from the Hegelianum, active since 1946 in Nuremberg, it was founded there in 1953 as the German Hegel-Society (Deutsche Hegel-Gesellschaft e.V.) by Wilhelm Raimund Beyer (1902–1990).


At the 2nd International Hegel-Conference in 1958 in Frankfurt/Main, the German Hegel-Society constituted itself as the International Hegel-Society (Internationale Hegel-Gesellschaft e.V.). Since 1983, the Society has been officially registered under this name. It is the task of the

Jakob Schlesinger 1831 "Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel"

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Painting from Jakob Schlesinger (1831) (public domain, wiki media)

Society "to care for Hegel's spiritual legacy, critically to research and present his philosophy in its historical development and in its manifold relations to preceding and succeeding theories, to work out the contemporary significance of Hegel and his thought and, especially, to investigate and further scientifically that dialectical method closely associated with his name in all its manifestations and in its application." (§ 1 of the Articles of Association from 17.02.1983)


The purpose of the Society is "to offer a forum to all scientists who engage Hegel in accordance with this task. The purpose of the Society is to be furthered through conferences, publications, lectures, discussions and reports as well as through personal contacts among the members." (§ 2)


Organs of the Society are:


(a) the General Meeting, which takes place every two years in conjunction with the Hegel-Conferences,


(b) the International Advisory Committee (15 Members) and


(c) the Executive Triumvirate, which selects from its members a Chairman (President) for two years.


The International Hegel-Society organizes every two years an INTERNATIONAL HEGEL-CONFERENCE. The conferences are open, meaning: Anyone who wishes to participate can register to present a paper in a section and/or take part in the conference proceedings. Membership in the International Hegel-Society is not a presupposition for such participation. The conference papers are published in the HEGEL-JAHRBUCH / HEGEL YEARBOOK, which the Executive Triumvirate of the Society edits in cooperation with the local organizational committee of each conference. Since the 1993/94 volume, the Hegel-Jahrbuch has been published by the Akademie-Verlag, Berlin.


Since 1994, the series HEGEL-FORSCHUNGEN has also been published by the Akademie-Verlag, including monographs, anthologies and editions of Hegelian philosophy and its historical influence.


The founder of the International Hegel-Society, Wilhelm Raimund Beyer, was its Chairman until 1982 and Honorary Chairman until his death in 1990. In 1982, Heinz Kimmerle (Rotterdam), Wolfgang Lefèvre (Berlin) and Rudolf W. Meyer (Zürich) were elected to the Executive Triumvirate and their appointments confirmed in 1988. From 1992 until 2004 the Executive Triumvirate has consisted of Andreas Arndt (President, Berlin), Karol Bal (Wroclaw) and Henning Ottmann (Munic), from 2004 until 2012 of Andreas Arndt (Berlin, President), Paul Cruysberghs (Leuven) and Andrzej Przylebski (Poznan), from 2012 until 2016 of Andreas Arndt (Berlin, President), Myriam Gerhard (President) and Jure Zovko (Zagreb) and since 2016 of Andreas Arndt (Berlin, Honorary Chairman), Myriam Gerhard (Oldenburg, President), Jure Zovko (Zagreb) and Brady Bowman (Chicago).