Spirit is an overused and often misused word. It also plays a prominent role in Hegel's philosophy. What is it supposed to mean? Is any talk of Spirit just fuzzy fairy-tale thinking? Or is Spirit, in its actual meaning, the driving-wheel behind Nature?
The German word for Spirit is Geist, which translated into English has two meanings, Spirit and Mind. It is also similar to two Greek words, Nous (Mind) and Pneuma, (Spirit/Breath ). Pneuma in turn corresponds to the Hebrew word Ruach (the breath of life), which is used in the biblical term Ruach HaKodesh, (the Spirit of God).
Nous can also be taken as meaning more intuitive as opposed to discursive thinking. This intuitive way of thinking is encompassed by the term speculative philosophy, as opposed to the more ordinary reflective philosophy.
This episode explore all this in relation to Hegel's philosophy and more.