III—What’s Wrong with the Master? A Critical Analysis of Hegel’s Master–Slave Dialectic

Abstract In his influential master–slave dialectic, Hegel looks to demonstrate that being a master is self-defeating. The master seeks absolute independence and genuine recognition from another. However, they depend upon their slave for their mastery, and the recognition their slave provides is ‘one-sided and unequal’. Thus, Hegel claims that mastery fails to achieve what it seeks. In this paper, I put some pressure on this dialectic. Amongst other things, I argue that what is primarily wrong with the master is the fact that they dominate a slave, not that they somehow fail on their own terms.