Section 297
Original German
297 Die Mitglieder der Regierung und die Staatsbeamten machen den Haupttheil des Mittelstandes aus, in welchen die gebildete Intelligenz und das rechtliche Bewußtseyn der Masse eines Volkes fällt. Daß er nicht die isolirte Stellung einer Aristokratie nehme und Bildung und Geschicklichkeit nicht zu einem Mittel der Willkühr und einer Herrenschaft werde, wird durch die Institutionen der Souverainetät von Oben herab, und der Corporations-Rechte von Unten herauf, bewirkt.
So hatte sich vormals die Rechtspflege, deren Object das eigenthümliche Interesse aller Individuen ist, dadurch, daß die Kenntniß des Rechts sich in Gelehrsamkeit und fremde Sprache und die Kenntniß des Rechtsganges in verwickelten Formalismus verhüllte, in ein Instrument des Gewinns und der Beherrschung verwandelt.
Musean translation
Machine-assisted Musean translation made directly from Hegel's German in the Berlin Nicolai first edition, dated 1821. Complete preface, introduction and sections 1–360, including the author's remarks and notes; no later Gans additions.
297 The members of government and state officials constitute the principal part of the middle estate, in which the educated intelligence and consciousness of right of the mass of a people reside. The institutions of sovereignty from above and the rights of corporations from below prevent this estate from assuming the isolated position of an aristocracy, and prevent education and skill from becoming a means of arbitrary choice and domination.
Thus formerly the administration of justice, whose object is the distinctive interest of all individuals, transformed itself into an instrument of gain and domination by veiling knowledge of right in erudition and a foreign language, and knowledge of legal procedure in convoluted formalism.
Plain English translation
Independent machine-assisted Plain English translation made directly from the German first-edition source, not from the Musean edition or an existing English translation. Complete preface, introduction and sections 1–360 with the author's remarks and notes.
297 The members of the government and the state officials make up the main part of the middle class, in which the educated intelligence and the legal awareness of the mass of a people are found. Two things keep this class from taking the isolated position of an aristocracy, and keep education and skill from becoming a tool of arbitrary choice and of domination. One is the institutions of sovereignty working from above. The other is the rights of corporations working from below.
So in the past the administration of justice, whose object is the own interest of every individual, was turned into an instrument of profit and domination. Knowledge of the law was hidden in learned scholarship and a foreign language, and knowledge of legal procedure was hidden in tangled formalism.
About this section
Section 297 is part of Elements of the Philosophy of Right by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. This page sets the German original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 299 of 362 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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