‘Foams Forth to Him His Infinity': The Puzzle of Phenomenology's Ending (Khafiz Kerimov)
About this episode
Khafiz Kerimov discusses the significance of Hegel's misquotation of Schiller's poem in the conclusion of 'Phenomenology of Spirit'.
Recording of a lecture delivered on October 10, 2025, by Annapolis tutor Khafiz Kerimov, as part of the Formal Lecture Series. Mr. Kerimov offers the following description: The final lines of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit are not his own. Hegel ends the book with a quotation from Friedrich Schiller’s poem "Friendship" (" Freundschaft" )—and misquotes it in a number of ways. Hegel's closing gesture invites a range of questions: why conclude with a quotation at all? Why a poetic one, and why Schiller’s "Friendship" in particular? Why misquote Schiller's poem? While I will touch on all of these questions in my lecture, my chief goal is to examine how this misquotation operates as the culminating moment of the Phenomenology and how it fulfills the book’s overarching project.
People in this episode
Guest: Khafiz Kerimov
Topics covered
- Phenomenology
- Hegel
- Schiller
- misquotation
- poetry
- philosophy
Keywords
- Hegel
- Schiller
- Phenomenology
- misquotation
- philosophy
- poetry
- Friendship
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Phenomenology of Spirit, Friendship
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