This chapter deepens our understanding of speculative philosophy: it applies Rose's speculative Hegelianism to her conception of the broken middle and explores its outworking, in response to the brokenness of modernity. Whereas in Chapter 1, Hegel Contra Sociology was the focus of exegesis, in this chapter, The Broken Middle: Out of Our Ancient Society is the central focus. In this, Rose's most challenging work, she deepens her critique of old (liberal) and new (postmodern) philosophy: the old, for its prescription and progressivism, and the new, for its rejection of the struggle to know and to judge. Both of these approaches refuse to do the difficult work of the middle: they avoid the anxiety associated with the brokenness of modernity. Drawing on Hegel's speculative thought, Rose asserts the need for philosophy's ‘grey in grey’: a ‘grey in grey’ that contrasts with the ‘colour on colour’ of postmodernity, with its exuberant rejection of traditional philosophy. She continues: