Arnold Ruge

Arnold Ruge (13 September 1802 - 31 December 1880) was a German philosopher and political writer.

Born in Bergen, he studied in Heidelberg. As an advocate of a free and united Germany he was jailed for 5 years in 1825 in the fortress of Kolberg. Moving to Halle on his release, he published a number of plays, translations of ancient Greek texts and became associated with the Young Hegelians.

According to Frederick Copleston ("A History of Philosophy", volume VII, p. 301)

"Ruge shared Hegel's belief that history is a progressive advance towards the realization of freedom, and that freedom is attained in the State, the creation of the rational General Will. [...] At the same time he criticized Hegel for having given an interpretation of history which was closed to the future, in the sense that it left no room for novelty.

In Paris, Ruge co-edited the "Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher" with Karl Marx briefly (Copleston p.307) before coordinating the activities of the far left in the revolutionary movement of 1848 which tumbled down the July Monarchy.

In 1850 he moved to Brighton to live as a teacher and writer, limiting his political involvement to the public support of Prussia between 1866 and 1870. On a smaller scale, while in Brighton, he was chairman of the successful "Park Crescent Residents' Association".