Abstract

Professor Singer’s work, as part of Oxford’s “Past Masters” series, is aimed at introducing a thinker to the general reader. In part the description of the work on the front flap of the dust cover reads: “This book is clearly written in ordinary English. It is intended for the general reader with no prior knowledge of philosophy or of Hegel. It will give such a reader, in the space of an evening’s reading, a broad knowledge of Hegel’s ideas, and an account of the main themes of his major works.” Dust cover descriptions of a work are usually written by the publisher’s staff, and not by the author, so I do not assume that this is Singer’s own description. In fact, such descriptions are often inaccurate, but this statement, I believe, quite accurately informs the reader of what to expect, and shows the work to be quite in line with the general aim of the series.