In my view, neither Voltaire nor Hegel are comparable to Pascal, or Gauss for that matter. The later are men of reason and belong to a different league altogeth

In my view, neither Voltaire nor Hegel are comparable to Pascal, or Gauss for that matter. The later are men of reason and belong to a different league altogether. The comparison is indeed silly. I have done the attempt to read some Hegel, but couldn't keep doing the unhealthy brain gymnastics necessary to read such crap. What (to quote you) "intellectual, honest, or reasoned approach to the content" can be given to what Feynman would have called "meaningless chewing around"? We don't put a lot of effort in discrediting the Old Testament, do we? Your and your fields' inability to move forward isn't surprising though, after all, it's philosophy. I'll put this discussion to a rest.