My title is meant to challenge a common preconception of Hegel, a preconception we might plausibly associate with a philosopher who designates his form of idealism as "absolute" and who claims that modern philosophy (at least his version of it) has arrived at the standpoint of "absolute knowledge."¹ In the area of practical philosophy the preconception is that Hegel's claims are similarly immodest, and that he awards human nature the capacities of unlimited freedom and perfect self-awareness.