On the Arbitrary Nature of Things

“Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit can be read from many points of view. Bridges chooses not just a skeptical approach but an agnostic one. He . . . calls into question not only Hegel’s solution but also the way he poses the problem. It is hard to imagine a more provocative examination of the Phenomenology of Spirit.”


—Ingolf U. Dalferth, Claremont Graduate University, emeritus





“This short but carefully crafted volume . . . focuses on Hegel and our inability to know (agnostic) the difference between external objects and the subjective concepts by which we understand them (arbitrary vs. nonarbitrary). Bridges delves beyond a mere historical investigation of philosophy to include anthropological studies on perception, and reflects on the assumptions of the double-blind randomized clinical trial (placebo).”


—T. L. Brink, Crafton Hills College





“Andrew Lee Bridges’s investigation into the history of mind—be it cosmic, human, or divine—with skeptical discoveries in Hegel’s work of its arbitrariness in relation to any universal direction or purpose and the agnosticism that follows . . . is an important study in universal relativism.”


—Roland Faber, Claremont School of Theology