Skepticism and the History of Philosophy in Hegel’s Jena Years

Abstract

Although the most famous attempt of theoretical assimilation of skepticism comes from the Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), Hegel’s early works from the Jena years –   Difference Between Fichte’s and Schelling’s Systems of Philosophy (1801) and the Relation of Skepticism to Philosophy (1802) – provide an important contribution to the understanding of the centrality of concepts as difference and negation in the philosopher’s thought. Hegel’s involvement in the Skeptizismusstreit was not merely a way to engage in the most renowned debate of his era; rather, it was a testing ground for ideas – more or less aware – to reflect on the relationship between conceptual determinations.