The Highway of Despair

the long version

Hegel's 'highway of despair', introduced in his 'Phenomenology of Spirit', refers to the tortured path traveled by 'natural consciousness' on its way to freedom. Despair is the passionate residue of Hegelian critique. Through an eclectic cast of thinkers, Robyn Marasco considers the dynamism of despair as a critical passion, reckoning with the forms of historical life forged along Hegel's highway. Despair, for Marasco, also indicates fugitive opportunities for freedom and preserves the principle of hope against all hope.