Reason & Revolution. Part II, The Rise of Social Theory THE
transition from philosophy to the domain of state and society
had been an intrinsic part of Hegel’s system. His basic
philosophic ideas had fulfilled themselves in the specific
historical form that state and society had assumed, and the
latter became central to a new theoretical interest. Philosophy
had in this way devolved upon social theory. To understand the
impact of Hegel’s philosophy on subsequent social theory, we
must deviate from the usual explanation. The traditional account
of the post-history of Hegelian philosophy begins by pointing to
the fact that the Hegelian school after Hegel’s death split into
a right and a left wing. The right wing, consisting of Michelet,
Göschel, Johann Eduard Erdmann, Gabler, and Rosenkranz, to name
only the most representative thinkers of this group, took up and
elaborated the conservative trends in the Hegelian system,
particularly in the Logic, Metaphysic and the Philosophies of
Right and of Religion. The le