The Metaphysical Presuppositions of Hegel's Philosophy of Self-consciousness

This article offers an original contribution to the interpretation of a crucial aspect of Hegel’s philosophy: the Chapter on “Self-Consciousness” in the Phenomenology of Spirit. Rejecting both of the most well-known interpretations of the master-slave dialectic unfolded in it, the Existentialistic and the Marxist ones, its Author points out that the rational necessity of the development of this “figure” of human experience is completely dependent on the logical-metaphysical principles of Hegel’s Philosophy, in particular on his doctrine of the absolute Idea.