The Elements of the Philosophy of Right develops the concept of right from abstract right (property, contract, wrong) through morality (purpose, intention, the good) to ethical life (Sittlichkeit): the family, civil society, and the state.

The state is not a necessary evil but "the actuality of the ethical idea." In it, particular interests are integrated with the universal. Hegel is often read as a conservative because he insists that the rational is actual and the actual rational—but his point is that philosophy comprehends what is, not that whatever exists is justified. Reform must be grounded in the concept.

The famous "end of history" interpretation (e.g. Kojève) takes the state described here as the final form. Hegel himself leaves the system open to further development in history and in absolute spirit (art, religion, philosophy).