This book is the translated, abridged and largely revised version of my post-doctoral thesis (Habilitation). First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor and outstanding teacher Klaus Vieweg. I am grateful to him for his efforts to keep me as a staff member at the Institute of Philosophy and thus providing me with the financial security which was necessary to work on my habilitation. I would also like to thank the reviewers, Andreas Schmidt and Anton Friedrich Koch, for their constructive and helpful comments and their criticism, which I benefited from during the revision process as well as the anonymous reviewer of the book for helpful comments and suggestions. I am especially indebted to my family for their patience during the work on this book and for their understanding that one can spend years of oneâs life on such a seemingly far-fetched subject as that of essentialities in Hegel.
Philosophy is not a lonely business, but is created in conversations. Therefore, my special thanks go to Claudia Wirsing, who gave me valuable ideas during many phone calls and Skype sessions. I really appreciate that she agrees with me on most philosophical issues. Likewise, numerous conversations with Ralf Beuthan, Brady Bowman, Ermylos Plevrakis, Lorenz Wagner, and the participants of Klaus Viewegâs advanced seminar have kept me from committing errors and mistakes. If there are any mistakes in the present book, I am solely responsible for them. Many thanks go to Christian Krijnen for his profound knowledge of Hegel, which helped me a lot, and for his willingness to check parts of the manuscript for substantive errors. I would like to thank Weimin Shi for inviting me to work as a visiting professor at his institute in Taizhong. This gave me the opportunity to finish the German version of my book. I would also like to thank Paul Cobben, who made this book possible in the first place by accepting this book in the series. Not to be left unmentioned are the students in my seminars on Hegel, who helped me gain more clarity on my subject in lively discussions. Many who have helped me in one way or another must go unmentioned. My thanks also go to them.
The translation would not have been possible without the valuable help and careful proofreading provided by Judy Myrth, a dear friend of my family. She saved me from doing harm to the beautiful English language. She deserves special thanks here.