Abstract
<p>The term "second nature", which has already been used in antiquity, occupies a key position in the philosophical debates of the present. Even if it is interpreted differently in different traditional contexts, the term is always intended to solve the problem of how nature and freedom, causal necessity and human spirit relate to each other. The Congress of the International Hegel Association sought to contribute to the elucidation of the relationship of the topics associated with the concept of "Second Nature" in the light of various disciplines. The volume publishes the three plenary lectures and the contributions to the eleven colloquia as well as a young scholars' forum; the spectrum of topics ranges from historical confrontations with individual traditions and epochs to the treatment of the role of "Second Nature" in aesthetics, social philosophy, psychoanalysis, and anthropology.</p>