Are there some writings that I should make myself familiar with beforehand, in order to rightly understand Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit?
I am thinking of works like
EthicsCritique of Pure ReasonOr, I should go straightforward to the Phenomenology of Spirit?
It's nearly impossible to decipher Hegel even with that sort of background without a teacher. While I think knowledge of Kant and Spinoza is helpful, you should also be read up on your Plato and Aristotle.
I would recommend reading some secondary literature alongside it. I recommend Lauer's Hegel's idea of philosophy and Frederick Baser's Hegel.
I would not recommend Kojeve, Sartre, Marx, or any other hyper famous philosopher's work on Hegel as an interpretive aid. They usually have their own strong agenda as to what they are doing with it.
I agree with @virmaior that finding a knowledgeable teacher, friend, or a class on "The Phenomenology" is really important in order to get the most out of the text. A basic understanding of Kant is absolutely necessary since Hegel is directly in conversation with the methodology of Kant in the work, particularly in the first half. Also, don't read the introduction until you finish the rest of the book!
As far as secondary sources, I found "German Philosophy 1760-1860" by Terry Pinkard really helpful in understanding some of the history of German Idealism and the context in which Hegel was working. The Pinkard and the text "Hegel and the Phenomenology of the Spirit" by Robert Stern were both recommended for a class I took on TPOTS and both of those texts were put under the heading "Beginning Hegel" or something similar. Since I was (and still am) "Beginning Hegel" I'll say that I found both those texts very useful in the class.
If you can't find a class or a teacher near you, then I would recommend at least reading it along with someone else and listening to J.M. Bernstein’s lectures on Hegel and Kant.
I agree with all of the above. You could, of course, start with some Kant and Spinoza. But all philosophers are bottomless, and assuming you have only one lifetime, you might as well just jump into the "hermeneutic circle," in keeping with Hegel's own method. There is no ideal starting point. You will need secondary literature, but not necessarily a classroom teacher. I'd recommend "An Introduction to Hegel" by Houlgate, and a general overview of German Idealism, just to get your historical bearings. There are any number of companion texts to the Phenomenology. Though I otherwise agree with virmaior I'd say Kojeve is worth reading, since his lectures were very influential in terms of Hegel's modern relevance. As an aside, tt is sometimes said that Hegel is easier to grasp if you dip into his earlier theological writings.
In Jacques Derrida's 1982 book Margins of Philosophy there is an essay (apparently written in 1968) called "The Pit and the Pyramid: Introduction to Hegel's Semiology", which is a very lucid summary of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit.
There is a very long series on youtube by a philosophy professor called "half hour hegel". It goes through, skipping nothing, section by section of this text. It seems very good. I bought a copy to follow along with his lectures. I was wondering about pre-requisites as well.
In response to your initial question, I would recommend Allen Scott's prize winning Hollywood ...he avoids a Lynchian PoMo. Interpretation as well as Jean Paul's existentialism. But as in his myriad other books, he is Hegel's dialectics at its best.
Decline of the Westand Heidegger'sBeing and Time. – DrKaoliN Dec 03 '14 at 12:04