Hegel's Geist - A Systemic Principle of Interiority

For this is action, this not being sure, this careless Preparing, sowing the seeds crooked in the furrow, Making ready to forget, and always coming back To the mooring of starting out, that day so long ago.

Revista Eletrônica Estudos Hegelianos 15 (25) [special issue on Hegel and McDowell], 2018

The paper offers an answer to John McDowell’s question of why it matters to Hegel that Geist has a history. Spirit’s content is revelation (Enc. § 383), and spirit realizes itself as what it is – revelation – by unfolding into two dimensions: a finite and an infinite subject. The infinite subject successively gives new forms of thinking to the finite subject, and this succession is history. This is shown more concretely with regard to the historical development of (philosophical) conceptions of self-consciousness from Descartes via Kant to Hegel. From this an overall picture of Hegel’s philosophy of spirit emerges through which its culmination in absolute spirit and, in particular, religion becomes conceivable and according to which there is a leap between Hegel’s philosophy and the pagan world. Thus, the paper is directed against two widespread tendencies in current readings of Hegel: the tendency to cut off or downplay absolute spirit in favor of subjective and objective spirit, and the tendency to assimilate Hegel’s philosophy of spirit to Aristotle’s philosophy of soul and life.

2008

This is an introduction to Hegel’s famous 1807 PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT, which is the Introduction to Hegel’s System of Absolute Science. It is based on a series of lectures I gave during the Spring semester of 2019 at St. John’s University and which also contains LINKS to the 36 videos that accompany my lectures. This module will contain 9 LECTURES with 4 parts to each lecture. LECTURE ONE will be an Introduction and Overview, including Hegel’s famous “Introduction” to the Phenomenology; LECTURE TWO will treat “A: CONSCIOUSNESS”; LECTURE THREE “B: SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS”; LECTURE FOUR “C: AA: REASON: A: Observing Reason”; LECTURE FIVE “C: AA: REASON: B: Active Reason and C: Practical Reason”; LECTURE SIX “C: BB: SPIRIT: A: True Spirit and B: Self-Alienated Spirit”; LECTURE SEVEN “C: BB: SPIRIT: C: Spirit Certain of Itself”; LECTURE EIGHT “C: CC: RELIGION: A: Natural Religion, B: Religion in the Form of Art, and C: The Revealed Religion”; and lastly LECTURE NINE “C: DD: ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE. Hegel’s Phenomenology is best described as the journey above PLATO’S Divided Line, out of the Cave of illusion – from sense-individuals, to representations, to thought-universals, finally to the ONE ABSOLUTE CONCEPT, which alone is Reality. The main Goal is the Absolute Concept, Absolute Knowledge, and the Logic of Absolute Science; a second Goal, as we’ll see, is “Reich Gottes” or Kingdom Come and the End of History. Thus the Phenomenology’s itinerary simply traces the stages of the realization of the CONCEPT and Absolute Knowing. In passing, we must note that since the Concept, which is alone Reality, is THOUGHT, those “realist” Hegelians who hold that for Hegel Nature and the World is reality and NOT Thought, are absolutely in error. Hegel is an idealist not a realist, as he says at Enc. §160: “The standpoint of the Concept is ABSOLUTE IDEALISM … (and all else that counts as independent) … is known within the Concept simply as an IDEAL moment.” Also at Enc. §381 he states that, “Nature has vanished (it is simply ideal).” Etc.

A 2013 draft of this translation. Attempting to right some of Miller's and Pinkard's wrongs. Feel free to use and cite.

Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit (published in 1807) traces the different stages of consciousness up to absolute knowing. Here, absolute knowing does not refer to knowledge of everything, but, rather, to knowledge of the world as it is (i.e. reality). Interestingly, during the course of the Phenomenology, Hegel does not draw a distinction between absolute knowing and self-knowledge. Instead, he states that one can know reality only by knowing oneself. This has significant epistemological implications, for it allows for the gap between the knower and the known to be overcome. On this point, Hegel further states that one must be conscious of oneself to know oneself. Hence, Hegel identifies self-consciousness as a prerequisite for self-knowledge. Chapter IV of the Phenomenology, which is devoted to the stage of self-consciousness, offers valuable insight into the conditions of its successful realization. Additionally, it is in this chapter that Hegel introduces the famous concept of 'recognition'. Here, he identifies recognition by another self as the condition for self-certainty. This points to the sociality of self. In an effort to highlight the sense of mutual dependency, Hegel gives the example of the Lord and the Bondsman. Although the example has allowed later thinkers to delve into the social and political implications of the concept of 'recognition', it has taken away from the original purpose of this concept: the achievement of self-consciousness. Not many thinkers have written on the unity of self with itself, as realized in self-consciousness. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to further clarify the above developed chain of relations; from recognition, self-consciousness, self-knowledge, to absolute knowing. In doing so, it intends to highlight the centrality of the self, both in relation to the concept of 'recognition' and in relation to the attainment of knowledge.

Hegel bulletin, 2004

The Evolution of Consciousness and the Hegelian Dialectic in "Phenomenology of Spirit" G.W.F. Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit" is a seminal work in Western philosophy, exploring the evolution of consciousness and self-consciousness through various stages, culminating in the realization of absolute knowing. This text is crucial for understanding Hegel's philosophical system and his concept of the dialectic. In this essay, we will examine key ideas from the books of author D.P. Verene, as well as look at the main concepts surrounding Hegelian philosophy, including the notion of Geist, the master-slave dialectic, the Hegelian dialectic, and the transition to Absolute Spirit, demonstrating how these concepts contribute to a comprehensive understanding of human consciousness and historical development, leading finally to the development of self-consciousness and the realization of the Absolute.