The nineteenth-century idealist philosopher G.W.F. Hegel noted that "the owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk" - meaning that philosophy comes to understand a way of life just as it passes away. He had in mind the transition from eighteenth-century feudalism to nineteenth-century commercialism and democracy. A sculptural cast of a great horned owl, perched within a darkened niche, waits to take flight over the philosophy and psychology sections.
Location: southeast corner of the Seventh Floor, near the bathrooms