Abstract

The article analyses the young Hegel's critique of the Kantian ought ("Sollen"). In the first part, the article discusses the opposition between "law" and "positivity" in works from Hegel's Berne and Frankfurt periods (1795-1797). Law as commandment ("Gebote") is attacked as being irreconcilable with the freedom of reason. In the second part, the article analyses the parallels between the "concept of law" and the "law of concept" in Hegel's inquiries into Kant's Practical Reason. At the end, the article proposes to view the problem of "Sollen" in the young Hegel as an attempt to create a new concept of law.