Hegel has taught us (in the third book, second section of The Science of Logic (24)) to distinguish among mechanical, chemical, and vital processes: “The result of the mechanical process does not already exist before that process; its end is not in its beginning, as in the case of the teleological end. The product is a determinateness in the object as an externally posited one.” Its process is, moreover, externality that does not affect its sameness and that is not explained by its sameness. Further on he will tell us: “Chemism is itself the first negation of indifferent objectivity and the externality of its determinateness; it is, therefore, still infected with the immediate self-subsistence of the object and with externality. Consequently it is not yet for itself that totality of self-determination that proceeds from it and in which rather it is sublated.” Finality appears in the vital process in the measure that the living individuals, in the face of the presupposed objective world, are put into tension with regard to their original presuppositions and positioned as the subject, in-itself and for-itself…

[…]

Hegel has illustrated for us the dialectic of movement but not that of temporality. He defines temporality as the “abstraction of consuming,” locating it along with “place” and “movement” following the tradition of Aristotle (particularly his Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences, the chapter “Philosophy of Nature”).

In: Historiological Discussions, Silo

Chapter 3: History and Temporality, 3.1 Temporality and Process

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)

Topics

Hegel's method is the dialectic, the three-step process of thesis, antithesis and synthesis.

With each synthesis, a process of sublation occurs:

Aufheben:

= 1. To put an end to, to stop, to be gone, a contradiction is sublated.

= 2. To keep, to pick up a photo, to store, to preserve (the knowledge from the thesis and antithesis is preserved).

= 3. to lift up higher, to raise to a higher level.

‘In language, ‘to pick up’ has the dual meaning of ‘to store’ and ‘to stop’, to put an end to.’

Science of Logic, Vol. 1, The Doctrine of Being

https://hegel-system.de/de/logik2.pdf

Hegel's dialectic has three perspectives:

• Man

• History

• The development of the world spirit

On history:

[...] history is [...] becoming. This becoming represents a slow movement and succession of spirits, a gallery of images, each of which, endowed with the full richness of the spirit, moves so slowly precisely because the self has to permeate and digest all this richness of its substance.

Phenomenology of Spirit, Absolute Consciousness, Religion

Where does the dialectic culminate?

‘World history is the progress of the consciousness of freedom – a progress that we have to recognise as necessary.’

Lecture on the Philosophy of World History, Introduction

‘For world history is the presentation of the divine, absolute process of the spirit in its highest forms, this gradual process by which it attains its truth, self-awareness.’

Lecture on the Philosophy of World History

Major works

Phenomenology of Spirit (1807)

This volume presents the nascent knowledge. The phenomenology of the mind is intended to replace psychological explanations or even abstract discussions of the basis of knowledge. It considers the preparation for science from a point of view that makes it a new, interesting, and the first science of philosophy. It comprises the various forms of the mind as stages on the path to becoming pure knowledge or absolute spirit. In the main sections of this science, which in turn are divided into several, consciousness, self-consciousness, observing and acting reason, spirit itself as a moral, educated and moral spirit, and finally as a religious spirit in its various forms, are therefore considered. The wealth of phenomena of the spirit, which at first glance presents itself as chaos, is brought into a scientific order that presents them in their necessity, in which the imperfect dissolve and merge into the higher, which is their immediate truth. They find their final truth first in religion, and then in science, as the result of the whole.

Science of Logic (1812-1816)

Hegel's Science of Logic is a complex and profound work that examines the structure of pure thought and the unity of subject and object, uniting the classical disciplines of philosophy, logic and metaphysics. It shows how thought comprehends itself and develops into a complete knowledge.

The work can be divided into three main parts (in two volumes):

1. The doctrine of being (the most fundamental categories of thought, such as quality, quantity and measure. These categories are the simplest and most direct determinations of being)

2. The doctrine of essence (here Hegel distinguishes between being and essence and describes essence as ‘becoming inward’ and ‘turning inwards’. The categories of essence occur in pairs, such as identity and difference, positive and negative, reason and the reasoned.)

3. The doctrine of the concept (here the concept is treated as the highest form of logical determination, absorbing all previous categories and elevating them to a higher level.)

Influence

Karl Marx: Marx adopted Hegel's dialectical method but applied it in a materialistic way. While Hegel applied dialectics to ideas and consciousness, Marx applied it to the material world and social relations. Marx's historical materialism is directly derived from Hegel's dialectical method.

Friedrich Engels: Engels, a close collaborator of Marx, also used Hegel's dialectic to analyse nature and history. He saw Hegel's dialectic as a tool for understanding the laws of nature and human society.

Martin Heidegger: Heidegger studied Hegel's logic intensively and criticised it. He saw Hegel's system as the culmination of Western metaphysics, which he sought to overcome. Heidegger's own philosophy is in many ways a reaction to Hegel's thinking.

Jean-Paul Sartre: Sartre, a leading proponent of existentialism, was also influenced by Hegel. Particularly in his work Being and Nothingness, the influence of Hegel's dialectic and his conception of consciousness is palpable.

Jürgen Habermas: Habermas, a leading proponent of the Frankfurt School, took a critical look at Hegel's logic. He recognised the importance of Hegel's dialectic for critical theory, but tried to integrate it into a communication-theoretical framework.

Bertrand Russell: Russell was highly critical of Hegel's logic and saw it as an example of the errors of traditional metaphysics. Despite his criticism, Hegel's influence has also left its mark on analytical philosophy, particularly in the discussion about the nature of logic and metaphysics.

Bibliography:

Herbert Schnädelbach: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Junius Verlag, Hamburg, 1999

Introduction to Hegel's Philosophy:

https://hegel-system.de/de/v0-vortrag.htm

https://www.getabstract.com/de/zusammenfassung/phaenomenologie-des-geistes/4211