De l’universalisme culturel dans l’histoire philosophique de Hegel au dialogue des cultures

Abstract. This article aims to examine the depths of Hegel's philosophy of history with the aim of seeing how his conception of the universal is deployed there. With the metaphor of the sun and that of the child, he shows us how the global spirit is gradually formed, from sunrise to sunset, from childhood to adulthood. At the end of the day or at the age of maturity, the true nature of the mind is revealed, that is to say fundamentally free and ethical. This moment which emerged with the French Revolution only completed a process which began in China, India and Persia, before spreading to Greece and Rome to reach maturity with the Germanic world. These are the ideas of freedom, equality and fraternity that have become concrete and must therefore be universalized. This will justify from the 16th century (discoveries and invention) the European desire to conquer the world. In other words, the idea of progress in Hegel, just as in Marx, does not contradict cultural universalism. Moreover, colonization sought to universalize a civilization not without difficulty since cultural relativism stood as a bulwark against the standardization of the world by valuing the specificities of each people. This fight for the recognition of cultural diversity, through the rejection that can result from it, has at times constituted a real threat against the unity of humankind. The solution seems to be found with dialogue between peoples and allows the flourishing of human rights all around the planet with the circulation of information, travel, the development of commercial exchanges, mixed marriages, etc. Mots-clés : Hegel, histoire philosophique, universalisme culturel, relativisme culturel, dialogue des cultures. Keywords: Hegel, philosophical history, cultural universalism, cultural relativism, dialogue of cultures.