Hegel and Haggis

Reading Hegel was… quite an experience. The Herr Professor Doktor certainly has a way with words, a way that at times made me feel utterly incompetent and a bit frustrated. And at other times, he seemed to be stating the obvious. One part of Hegel stood out to me, perhaps because of how ridiculous it seemed when I first read it. When talking about “historical men,” Hegel says, “They are great men, because they willed and accomplished something great; not a mere fancy, a mere intention, but that which met the case and fell in with the needs of the age” (page 31). They’re great men because they did something great? I thought. That’s like saying like saying chocolate is delicious because it’s chocolate. What exactly is considered doing “something great” anyway? A few moments later I felt dumb for asking myself that question. I already knew the answer; I’ve known it for years. In fact, the whole idea of “great men” was a huge motivation for a history project I did my freshman year of high school.

Ah, freshman year. One of the most awkward years of my life. It was also the year I developed an uncanny appreciation for Scottish culture, sadly because of Mel Gibson. I first saw the movie Braveheart then and decided that William Wallace was one of the coolest people ever. If you’re not familiar with the movie Braveheart, here’s the gist of it: Mel Gibson is Scottish, his wife gets killed by the English, he’s super pissed and starts a revolution, he ends up sleeping with an English princess and finally gets tortured and killed by the English. It’s a lot more poignant that that, but for the sake of brevity (not my strongest suit) those are pretty much the main events. I was utterly fascinated by William Wallace/ Braveheart’s deeds, moved by the scene where Gibson memorably cries for freedom. (link) Even after choosing to do research on Wallace for a National History Day project and discovering that large part of the movie was inaccurate (though some Wallace history is hard to distinguish from myth), I still was caught up in the epic exploits of the Scot. The movie just made him look so cool, with the blue face paint and kilts (though now I realize I never want to see Mel Gibson in a kilt ever again). And – surprise, surprise – being great in this case involves killing people.

The Cinematic Braveheart is certainly one of Hegel’s “great men” (sorry, great women of the world). He doesn’t just sit around and wait for things to change, by God, he gets pissed and gets things done. Even if it means getting drawn and quartered in the end – but he dies for his country, and he dies fairly young, two things Hegel would really appreciate. Especially because his revolting made way for Robert the Bruce to become King of Scotland. He didn’t have a “mere fancy, a mere intention,” no, he acts and his actions “fell in with the needs of the age.” The portrayal of the historic Braveheart falls along the same lines too, as he’s considered a nation hero (and for a place that’s had more than its fair share of conflicts with England, it’s easy to see why). Like Nathaniel Hale in American history (and Mel Gibson’s character in The Patriot, incidentally) Braveheart is a historical figure where Hegel’s philosophy is most definitely in play.