Focusing on the Science of Logic, this wide-ranging and innovative reading exposes the force as well as the limit of Hegel's philosophy. Drawing on Hegel's early account of tragic conflicts, De Boer brings into play a form of negativity that challenges the optimism inherent in modernity and Hegelian dialectics alike.

KARIN DE BOER has taught at the Universities of Amsterdam and Louvain, and is currently lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. She is the author of Thinking in the Light of Time: Heidegger's Encounter with Hegel (2000) and of numerous articles on Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, tragedy, and contemporary French thought.