Section 342
Original German
342 Die Weltgeschichte ist ferner nicht das bloße Gericht seiner Macht, d. i. die abstracte und vernunftlose Nothwendigkeit eines blinden Schicksals, sondern weil er an und für sich Vernunft, und ihr Für-sich-seyn im Geiste Wissen ist, ist sie die aus dem Begriffe nur seiner Freyheit nothwendige Entwickelung der Momente der Vernunft und damit seines Selbstbewußtseyns und seiner Freyheit, — die Auslegung und Verwirklichung des allgemeinen Geistes.
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.
342 World history, moreover, is not the mere judgment of its power, that is, the abstract and unreasoning necessity of a blind fate; rather, because spirit is reason in and for itself, and reason's being-for-itself in spirit is knowing, world history is the development, necessary from the concept of its freedom alone, of the moments of reason and thereby of its self-consciousness and its freedom—the interpretation and realization of the universal spirit.
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.
342 Nor is world history merely the judgment of spirit's power, that is, the abstract and unreasoning necessity of a blind fate. Spirit is reason in and for itself, and its being-for-itself in spirit is knowing. So world history is the development of the moments of reason, which follows necessarily from the concept of spirit's freedom alone. Through that development spirit comes to its self-consciousness and its freedom. World history is the interpretation and the realization of universal spirit.
About this section
Section 342 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 344 of 362 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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