Welcome to this lecture on Aspects of Western
Philosophy, Module 24 and also Lecture
number 24.
This lecture is going to be on the philosophy
of one of the very important
thinkers of western philosophy - Hegel.
And we would focus on the following topics
in
this lecture.
We will first of all see the concept of Geist
or spirit, mind it is translated in
various ways.
Then we will concentrate on this method of
dialectics or rather we would
conclude this lecture with that in between
we will discuss the concepts of being, nonbeing,
and becoming; they are all inter connected
notions in Hegelian philosophy.
Well, when we talk about the importance of
a philosopher in the history of philosophy,
normally we consider two criteria; number
one, the contributions he or she had made
to
the history of philosophy, and number two
the contemporary relevance of these thinkers.
So, in that sense we can see that you know
many of this traditional or even ancient
philosophers like Plato and Aristotle are
still very important, because even today there
thoughts inspire us, inspire philosophers.
But when you try to understand when you try
to evaluate Hegel in the light of this criteria,
I would rather say that both of them, I mean
if you consider both the aspects like the
contributions to the history of philosophy,
history of thought, and history of human intellectual
history, we can put it in that way the
entire human intellectual history own lot
to Hegelian philosophy; Hegel as inspired
thinkers from all aspects, all intellectual
disciplines.
And of course, the contemporary relevance
of Hegel, there is many philosophers in the
contemporary world, go back to Hegel’s thought
notable philosopher Charles Taylor and
many others.
And as per as Indian philosophical tradition
is concerned, there is a
tendency among some Indian philosophers to
compare the Hegelian system of absolute
idealism with Vedanta.
So, in that sense Hegel is a very important
thinker for us and we will start with concept
of Geist or absolute or spirit.
But before that let us see some basic details
about Hegel, he
was born on august 27th, 1770 and his association
with Friedrich Holderlin very
important poet, German poet and Schelling
led him to read and spend more time on the
critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant.
So, this association with these two great
thinkers
played a very important role in Hegel’s
philosophy, and in Hegel’s intellectual
development.
Then he publishes first major philosophical
work, the phenomenology of spirit in 1807,
there are many other works he published during
his life time, I am not going to mention
about all of them, but the attempt is to understand
how a philosopher such a great thinker
like Hegel as actually started his philosophical
carrier and probably in next the lecture,
we will concentrate on this whole idea of
phenomenology of spirit.
And we talk about the philosophical sources
of Hegel; the French Rationalism of course,
is played a very important role and then comes
the British Empiricism like all thinkers of
modern enlightenment philosophy or post enlightenment
thought.
Hegel was also
influenced by the two Greek traditions of
rationalism and empiricism and also Kant
Kant’s Transcendental Philosophy.
A Kant being a German it was quire natural
that Kant would have influenced Hegelian
philosophy, Hegel’s intellectual growth
in a significant manner.
But whether very
interesting influence or Hegelian philosophy
is Romanticism, which is a little (Refer
Time: 04:25) but at the same time we can see
that you know Hegel’s attempt to totalize
everything or to develop a philosophy a totalizing
theoretical frame work owes a lot to
romantic approach or romanticism.
And another important contribution probability
or influence of romanticism is visible in
Hegel’s attempt to spiritualize philosophy,
which is little against the kind of prevailing
systems or prevailing approaches to philosophy
in the enlightenment age, because
enlightenment always try to see nature as
material, but we can see that Hegel was trying
to spiritualize it.
So, we can see in Hegel’s philosophy all
this trends, the rationalism,
empiricism, transcendentalism or critical
philosophy of Immanuel Kant, then
romanticism, all this you know intellectual
developments converged in a unique manner
in Hegelian system up of thought.
Now, when we talk about Hegel’s task as
a philosopher, he was trying to formulate
a
philosophical theory that will reach to infinity.
This again a very interesting aspect
because when you talk about infinity, particularly
the back drop of enlightenment
philosophy, the critical philosophy of Immanuel
Kant, we have already examined in
detail that when Kant discussed the critical
of pure reason, he drew a very clear line,
he
said that it is impossible to think this side
of the line.
You can be here, but never try to stretch
it and try to apply the categories of human
thinking or rational categories to your understanding
of god or infinite reality or
anything.
So, in that sense enlightenment philosophy
drew a very clear line between
finite and infinity; something which is finite,
something which human beings with their
finite minds can understand and there is in
infinite reality which we can never probably
comprehended.
So, this line is something which Hegel was
trying to cross, then again formulated a
totalizing philosophy that comprehends all
reality, when you talk about all reality I
mean
it includes all aspects of reality or phases
of reality, not just one.
For instance for
enlightenment reality is constitutive of the
material domain, rather ultimate real is
something which is unknowable according to
Cancion philosophy, and the phenomenal
reality is something which is confined to
the domains of perception concepts.
So, it is
basically talks about scientific understanding,
but for Hegel history is equally important
like physics.
So, in one sense we can say that Hegel is
historizing philosophy or rather he
is a historian of philosophy, he is definitely
not the first historian of philosophy or first
philosopher of history, but Hegel’s contributions
in this domain this area is phenomenal.
So, in that sense we have to understand this
particular stand point that trying to develop
formulate a totalizing philosophy that comprehends
all reality, the historical,
physiological, creative philosophical, scientific
physical all aspects of reality into one
system.
A philosophy that accounts for all human experience,
the totalizing philosophy
that incorporates all knowledge and wisdom
present in science history, religion, politics
art and literature are all synthesized in
the unique manner in Hegelian system.
So, in that sense there are some philosophers
them historians of philosophy would say
that Hegel was the most perfect philosopher,
because everything converges into Hegelian
system.
And the influence of the romanticism is quite
visible as per as this aspect is
concerned.
We will have a brief look at what romanticism
is to understand to appreciate
Hegelian philosophy in a more compressive
manner.
It is a new movement in the realms
of literature, philosophy and arts, there
are romantic poets, romantic artist who adopted
a
kind of very unique and very different approach
to in nature.
The relationship between man and nature, the
importance they have given to
experiencing nature, the importance they have
given to emotions say for example, people
like words worth.
The important given to emotions, passions,
the passionate and experiential way in which
you relate yourself with nature, all this
things were emphasize by to the romantic
thinkers and artist.
They advocated by artists and intellectuals
who rejected the
enlightenment philosophy, dominated by reason,
logic and mathematics, as we have
already seen enlightenment philosophy was
dominated by these aspects, reason, logic
for
instance we have seen it Immanuel Kant, used
literature to express the inner world of
human feelings.
So, that is what I meant the world of feelings
emotions and passions where highlighted
by these thinkers.
They protest against the domination of science
in culture, highlighted
the inability of science in exhausting, the
complexities of human experience; for instance
how do you experience a flower, the beauty
of a flower its more than just having a
perception concepts as Kant has mentioned
about it.
There is something more than that
you experience is at part of an environment
or being part of that experience.
All these things are emphasized by these romantic
thinkers, it misses the totality of
experiences and the feelings associated with
it and to understand the world not science
but experience as it is lived.
So, there is a concept of lived experiences,
which is emphasized by them and naturally
there conception of reality is also drastically
different from the enlightenment conception
where reality is material as I have already
mentioned, reality is spiritual nature is
spiritualized by the romanticism, which you
can see patterned Hegel also.
And nature is
not like Newton’s mechanical world but it
is a living spirit which Hegel finds in the
conception of Geist or spirit in Hegel.
The will is important and not reason because
for
the enlightenment reason was the major tool
for understanding the world, but for these
romanticism it is the will which plays an
important role, which does justice to the
non
rational aspects of human life.
The idea of polarity human thought and feeling
are characterized by a polarity, there is
a
two sidedness which again figures in Hegelian
philosophy in the form of in the form of contradictions,
we will see it later.
And again in the pursuit of the
infinite: never get confined to one mode of
thought, which is again a Hegelian.
Hegel
observes these insides because for Hegel also
the whole alone is true truth is the whole,
not one particular concept is only a partial
truth; it can never represent the whole of
truth.
The whole of truth cannot be representing
that by one concept of one mode of thinking.
So, this is again Hegelian and never be static.
With this understanding in the back ground,
let us come to a examine some of the
important features of Hegelian philosophy,
it is an observation by Bertrand Russell says
that Hegel’s philosophy is very difficult,
he is I should say the hardest to understand
of
all great philosophers, probably that is truth
to some extent to a philosopher like Bertrand
Russell, who subscribes to the analytic tradition
of philosophy the he is more Kantian in
that way, he is more mathematical in that
way, example Russell we would see later in
the
in the course of this lecture series that
would be appreciating more a mathematical
a
scientific approach to philosophy which Hegel
is not subscribing to.
Hegel’s central thought is as I already
mentioned only the whole is real, a totalizing
approach this is visible in the concept of
the Geist or spirit, being the central concept
which unifies everything.
So, Hegel was trying to formulate a concept
which could
successfully comprehend all aspects of reality
and unifies everything that can be
understood and that concept is the concept
if Geist or spirit.
All partial facts are
abstractions they have brought into connection
with the whole in order to gain validity.
So, this is again very important Hegelian
notion, that taking thinks in isolation is
to
abstract them isolate them from the whole
the picture of reality; reality is constituted
of
the whole reality is whole, the self subsistence
of finite things is an illusion nothing can
exists in isolation everything is necessarily
connected with the rest.
So, this is the essence of the Hegelian philosophy
in one sense and here Russell’s face
one again Hegel seeks to demonstrate nothing
exits independently of relationships
against separateness, influence of mysticism
is visible in this context.
This is according to Bertrand Russell, he
interestingly says that here as per as this
aspect
of Hegelian philosophy is concerned is influenced
by is early mistake affiliations
because Hegel started his carrier with I mean
he joined a monastery and from there he
learnt theology and philosophy.
So, this early affiliation with mysticism
would have
prompted into conceive thinks in this way
this is Russell’s opinion.
Now let us come to
Hegel’s concept of reality, as I mentioned
here the stress is on the whole: the complex
system comparable to an organism: against
Spinoza for whom a substance is a simple or
reality is a simple substance.
So, here on the one hand we can see that Hegel
was also emphasizing like Spinoza did;
for Spinoza also there is only one substance
one reality that is the substance and for
Hegel also there is kind of I mean he two
points to a notion of reality and notion of
absolute, spirit or mind which is universal,
but the difference is that here the reference
is
to a complex system which is comparable to
an organism as per as a Hegelian system is
concerned.
Separate things are not an illusion: according
to Hegel, each has a greater or lesser
degree of reality which is not the case with
Spinoza and many others, those who are
monist.
But for Hegel the separate things the individual
things are not illusions and again
the reality of separate things consist in
them being an aspect of the whole.
So, at the
same time Hegel emphasizes on the importance
of the whole.
So, the individual gains its meaning and its
significance only in connection with its being
meaning full part of the whole, the whole
is the absolute.
So, there are concepts, these
are the some of the concepts very important
concepts which Hegel introduces in his
philosophy, the concept of absolute; absolute
mind, spirit, Geist and there are several
terms which Hegel uses in this context.
And again this reality for Hegel again its
very interesting to note this difference,
the
difference between the conceptions of reality
advocated by Hegel and how he as
formulated it as oppose to the enlightenment
conception.
In enlightenment conception
for example, the Kantian view of reality the
phenomenal world is a world of causing
effect, though this is something which the
mind attributes to the world that is true
we are
the lawgivers according to a Kant, but at
the same time it is governed by a cause effect
relationship, the phenomenal world is governed
by a cause effect relationship which to
some extent Hegel also accept but he makes
a major deviation here.
He says that it is governed by the principle
of teleological causality.
So, here is very
close to Aristotle.
Aristotle also has a conception of theology
that everything as a
purpose, a higher purpose to be realized and
there are two principles which are relevant
in Aristotelian philosophy, at potentiality
and actuality and in the process of change
according to Aristotle every change is evolution
we have already seen it in one of our
previous lectures.
Since every change is an evolution, in the
process of evolution what
happens is that an object realizes, materializes
its potentialities or actualizes the
potentialities.
So, here again something like that we can
see that everything progresses to words what
the absolute according to Hegel.
So, governed by the principle of teleological
causality
and not just mechanical efficient causality,
the meaning of each stage is realized in the
whole which is rational.
And again a revision of the conception of
rationality which is
advocated by the modern philosophers by a
large and particularly the enlightenment
thinkers like Kant, to overcome Kantian separation
of noumena and phenomena.
Because if you approach reality with the Kantian
model, then it is impossible to know
the noumena there is a clear separation as
I have already mentioned a line is gone
between noumena and phenomena, something which
you can know and the reality which
you can never know that is because Kant and
the enlightenment philosophers advocated
a very peculiar conception of rationality
by means of which reality is comprehended.
This rationality has two aspects I have already
mentioned it in the my previous lectures
the percepts and concepts, with the interaction
of these two reality the phenomenal world
is revealed, but something which lies beyond
that the nominal reality can never be
known, but Hegel was consciously making an
attempt to overcome this dichotomy to
know noumena and that is why the principle
of teleological causality is important in
Hegelian system, its identification spirit
as activity.
So, reality it is being identified as a spiritual
phenomena as an activity not as a static
thing, but as an activity which comprehends
everything even the comprehending mind
even the mind which understands it.
So, also part of that.
So, it encompasses everything
the conception of reality and then again there
we can see Aristotle’s influence where
identification of the fully substantial being
with spirit which is in essence is activity.
So,
here also we can see that reality or the absolute
or the spirit the absolute mind is
conceived as an activity, as a process which
progressively takes us to the reason to the
infinity.
Again things have meaning, the process is
rational there is a rational order.
So, this is
another important feature of Hegelian thought,
that he says that this process by means of
which reality excess, reality itself is a
process it is not a static entity.
But it is a process a dynamic process, but
this process has a meaning it is teleological
and
also it is a rational process, it is a process
of rational: unfolding we can mentioned in
that
way.
The whole is like an organism that is rational
purposive and with full meaning.
Again the Kantian approach is not suitable
to know it, because the Kantian approach will
never accept this comprehensive perspective,
for Kant there is always a separation the
subject in object are different for Kant.
For Hegel the subject and object can never
be different both are comprehended or both
are encompassed by the single reality called
the absolute, then again Kantian rationality
is insufficient in knowing this process because
Kantian rationality employs the 12
categories of understanding which limits everything
to a certain structure which is
provided by the mind transcendental a perception,
which is not acceptable for Hegel.
Now let us come to the Kantian problem because
we have being discussing about Kant
and Kantian model of rationality a lot.
Let us see what happens here, the ego, the
mind, because we have already seen that Kant
was I mean it is being stated that Kant is
initiating a kind of Copernican revolution
in
philosophy and this Copernican revolution
consists in placing the subject, the mind,
the
ego at the center of the knowing activity.
As I have already mentioned in this lecture
sometime back that we are the low givers of
the universe; this is the Kantian position.
Now, what is this ego, the law giver?
Ego or mind according to Kant is the condition
of
the possibility of things appearing to the
subject.
So, this is the Kantian position it is a
precond that is why it is called transcendental
critical philosophy because it talks about
the condition of the possibility of things
appearing to the subject and again ego is
an
abstract account of the forms of thought or
categories of understanding.
So, Kantian ego can be understood in terms
of this, an abstract account of the forms
of
thought or categories of understanding, there
are 12 categories of understanding
according to Kant.
So, Kantian ego can be equated with that the
empirically ego can be
equated with that and again reason for in
that frame work is a faculty of the soul or
ego
constituted of a combination of principles
forms or rules according to which we think.
So, these qualities, quantity, modality and
relations, these 12 categories would enable
to
us to think in a particular way.
So, the world as such can never be known but
we
understand by attributing certain principles
and loves from our side to it, that is the
Kantian peculiarity.
And mind is separated from the world as I
mentioned mind is the
lawgiver of the world.
So, it is not only epistemologically different
from the world, but is
also under logically different from the world,
forms of thought mind from what they are
forms of the world.
So, Kantian philosophy introduces several
such categories, there is the mind the domain
of the ego, the lawgiver, the forms of thought,
then there is a world the phenomenal
world what we know and there is a nominal
domain of reality which will never know.
So, these are all various aspects of Kantian
philosophical systems.
And again the problem is that there is a gap
between mind and the world, there is a gap
between the mind and the world here which
can be better articulated by separating the
phenomena with the noumena.
The noumena reality is constitutive of higher
realties
which can never be known and the phenomenal
reality is something which is spatial
temporally given to us which we experience.
So, this gap between noumena and phenomena
is actually the gap between mind and the
world and the problem of the noumena or things
in themselves which can never known,
things in themselves can never be known again
problem of antinomies which we have
already discussed when we try to apply this
categories of understanding to the nominal
world or entities in the nominal world reality
as such say for example, when we try to
understand the soul about which we do not
have percepts.
But we try to categorized it without having
percepts, we are ultimately bound to end up
with antinomies where you have certain contradictory
statements which apparently both
of them seen to be equally valid.
And now Hegel’s phenomenology of spirit
attempts to
give an alternate account of this relationship
and show how that this gap can be
overcome.
So, this is what ultimately tries to say the
phenomenology of the mind or phenomenology
of spirit, which basically talks about the
evolution of the human mind from through
several stages to the ultimate stage where
it reaches the absolute or which there it
realizes
in the absolute.
So, this process will examine in detail in
next lecture.
So, it is here with this work Hegel tries
to overcome the distinction between nominal
or
phenomenal realities.
And when we talk about Kantian philosophy
Hegelian thought.
Kant we had seen already that was influenced
by the physical sciences
and thinking is confined to the scientific
level that is why he has this model of thinking
which is constitutive of percepts and concepts.
Then again contradictions in thinking are
inevitable at this level because you have
you
are limited to the perception concepts and
when you are trying to apply this to a world
which is apparently not limited or not confined
to any of this constraints, then you are
bound to end up in contradictions.
Hegel on the other hand adopts the approach
of
historian this is what I mentioned earlier
that there is an approach of an historian
historical approach in philosophy, thinking
as an activity of spirit or reason and not
confined to the scientific level and he rises
above contradictions to their synthesis.
So,
that we will see in the later part of this
lectures, the concept of synthesis which is
the
culmination of dialectical process.
Now, Hegels view of reason we can see that
reason is the law according to which being
is produced constituted and unfolding, he
has a very an extremely comprehensive
concept of rationality or reason, where it
is a low according to which being is produced
the entire reality is not different from reason.
So, rational and real are one and the same.
So, later on Hegel would proclaim real is
rational and rational is real.
It is constituted and unfolded in reason and
both subjective
faculty and objective reality are constitutive
of this reason, see this is again a very
important deviation from the enlightenment
conception.
In the enlightenment conception
we have seen that there is a subject and the
object they are different from each other
and
they are constitutive of different realities;
on teleological different.
a epistemologically
different but in Hegelian system both the
subjective and the objective faculties are
constitutive by reason.
See reason according to Hegel, is a subjective
faculty as the essence and norm of our
thinking or our thought, the way in which
we think what are our thinking itself is and
on
the other side it is an objective reality
as the essence and law of the evolution of
things.
We have seen this all notion of categories
of thinking, when we have discussed Kantian
philosophy and Hegel also was interested in
this idea of categories, the categories of
human thinking, but the major difference is
that for Hegel these categories of thinking
are not just subjective elements of our thinking
as Kant it is not just
subjective elements.
But these categories of thinking are according
to him the categories of reason itself and
reason according to him as I already mentioned
encompasses comprehends everything, it
involves everything.
So, in that sense they are the basic law of
the universe of reality as
such, are also modes of being of the things
themselves.
So, the categories of thinking are
not only the subjective elements which we
posses, but are also the modes of being.
So,
he is anthologizing them in one sense we can
say.
Not empty frames, the categories are
not just empty frames which receive their
concerns sorry which receive their contents
from without but are substantial forms that
give themselves their own content.
See for instance in Kant, this categories
are empty frames and Kant himself says that
percepts without concepts are blind and concepts
without percepts are empty.
So, these
categories remain empty if they are not provided
with percepts from without, but for
Hegel they are not so without by their substantial
forms, the categories of thinking are
substantial forms that give themselves their
own content.
Both the forms which mould my thought and
the stages of eternal creation, the categories
and here we can see that there are certain
very clear objections waste against Kant’s
idea
of pure concepts in limiting the number of
concepts, Kant as said that it is 12 and Hegel
opposes this conception in limiting them to
the use of sensory experience Kant would
say that sorry Hegel would say that, the categories
of thinking should be employed in
order to know the whole of reality and then
again in limiting the knowledge gained by
the categories to the status of appearance,
the division can maintains between phenomena
and noumena.
Phenomenal realities the only reality which
we can know with the help of
these categories and according to Kant these
categories, these phenomenal reality the
phenomenal realities are mere appearance,
reality as such can never be known.
So, in that sense Kant has confined limited
what we experience to the domain of mere
appearances and you opposes the deduction
of categories in terms of empirical
enumeration of pure categories.
So, here again we can see categories of thinking
there is a distinction are not separate
from but are intimately connected with each
other even in Kant and he attempted an a
priori deduction of the categories, an empirical
enumeration of pure concepts which
Hegel opposes.
For Hegel these categories of thinking are
transformation of one and the
same fundamental category, the idea of being.
Because for Hegelian philosophy in the true
sense of the term there is only one reality
which encompasses everything that is the idea
of being and not just empirical
enumerations but real deduction which Hegel
aims it and in order to deduce them in the
real sense, Hegel wants us to just leave them
just allow them to unfold and observe what
is happening, this point onwards we can try
to understand what constitutes Hegel’s
method.
Number one, Hegel was trying to build upon
Kant, he retains Kant’s idea of the primacy
concepts have our sense impressions.
Concepts are important in Kant for Hegel also
concepts are retain their primacy our sense
impressions but in a very significantly
different way.
Again to build upon the Romantics: extend
the use of rational concepts to
understand the vast variety of experience
and knowledge in psychology religion, history,
culture, literature and art.
So, here we can see a emerging of Kantianism
with romanticism; the Kantian categories
which are rational and the romantic approach
of reality as a whole, to which incorporates
all aspects of reality, psychology, religion,
history, culture literature and art.
And again to construct a new theory of reality
a new metaphysics; so, in this context we
can examine the metaphysical task of Hegel.
It is to bring the vast reaches of the human
spirit into unification in one theory.
So, everything that human spirit endeavors
to or
everything that the human spirit covers in
encompasses to bring them into one theory.
To bring together the totality of concepts
used in the vast stretches of all knowledge,
all
the arts in sciences, religion, political
thought and history, which we have already
seen
the totalizing tendency in Hegelian philosophy.
All these aspects of reality are brought
under the concept of absolute Spirit, the
Geist which is rational.
So, in that sense the concept of Geist or
spirit or even we can even translate it as
mind,
because the German word Geist means spirit,
mind or soul and for both spirit and mind
Germans use the word Geist.
And for Hegel it is both rational and rationally
comprehensible.
We can also understand it for Kant there is
an important difference here
for Kant it belongs to the domain of ideas
which we can never understand, but here it
is
both rational and rationally comprehensible,
in logical structure, in natural science and
in
historical progress.
So, it is the Geist is manifested in all the
aspects of life, in logical structures, in
natural
sciences and also in the process of history,
the same spirit, the same Geist is manifested.
To show that thought and the matter of thought
are not separate the separation was made
by all a epistemologist subject and object,
the epistemological traditions both rationalism
and empiricism emphasize on this distinction,
but Hegel was trying to sort of overcome
this, to show that thought and the matter
of thought are not separate, forms of thought
arise historically through the interaction
of subject and object.
So, again this interactive aspect is emphasize
by Hegel because he is approaching
philosophy from the perspective of a historian,
reality as a whole including nature,
humanity, history is shaped by and is a manifestation
of Geist, mind or spirit.
So,
everything every reality every aspect of reality,
every spirit of reality is nothing but a
manifestation of Geist or spirit.
It exhibits self consciousness or self articulation,
and the
manifestation of the self- consciousness of
Geist: in psychology history, religion, drama,
art and philosophy.
So everything, every human endeavor, the manifestation
of this spirit is visible according
to Hegel.
And in this context he proclaims that, the
real is rational and the rational is real.
The
absolute spirit or god is the ultimate reality.
Reality is a complex totality of rational
concepts constituting absolute spirit or god.
Again the real is the rational and the rational
is real.
The totality of thought is absolute and infinite
unlike the finite minds of human
beings.
Geist is the objective mind.
So, here he makes a distinction between the
objective mind and the finite subjective
minds of we human beings.
Or minds are finite, which tries to understand
the infinite
mind, and this understanding is possible because
our finite the so called finite mind is
nothing but a manifestation of that universal
mind.
We are now going to discuss that aspect in
the next lecture, when we discuss the
phenomenology was spirit.
But the point here to be noted is that reality
is a complex
totality of rational concepts constituting
absolute spirit of or god.
So, there is nothing
else but only these rational structures.
And here there is a very interesting code
from Alfred Webbers books, we he says high
court; according to Hegel, the common source
of the ego and of nature does not
transcend reality.
So, in one sense he advocates a kind of immanent,
which is
Aristotelian, it is imminent in it.
Mind and nature are not aspects of the absolute,
or a
kind of screen, behind which an in different
and lifeless God lies concealed, but its
successive modes.
The absolute is not immovable, but active
it is not the principle of
nature and of mind, but is itself successively
nature and mind.
The succession, this
process this perpetual generation of things,
is the absolute itself.
So, everything is included under the notion
of absolute.
So, let us discuss Hegel’s absolute idealism
in this context.
Reality according to Hegel is
rational, conceptual totality and an integrated
and total structure of conceptual truths.
So,
it is the totality of the conceptual truth
reveals itself in all areas of human experience
and
knowledge which I have already mentioned any
aspect of human life, you take any
aspect any sphere any domain of human life
in all such aspects you know you can see the
manifestation of this absolute.
Reality is rational; the vast structure of
rational concepts
that include all areas and again the real
is rational, but not different from what is
existent.
Naturally there could be we can ask the question
all that exist in front of us: the events,
historical events, the material things, how
can you say that there are rational?
What is he
says what Hegel says that, when you say real
is rational and rational is real; the ratio
real
is rational but not different from what is
existent.
He only says that the rational is the
existent object more deeply understood, the
rational structures need to be understood
for
that you have to really go to the depth.
So, a deeper understanding of reality reveals
the rational structures of it, again the deeper
understanding of the vast realms of physical
and organic nature and of society, of
history, of psychology, of everything reveals
the rational structures.
Rational concepts
are not independent or transcendental apart
from the concrete world like Plato for
example, for Plato the rational ideas on independent
of it, but for him it is not so.
So,
here you can see an aspect of Aristrotinilism,
rational concepts constitute their rational
core of the world of things.
Reality is knowable; its rational structures
are knowable.
Since human reason and reality
share the same rational structure our finite
man can know the infinite reality.
This is
against the Kantian idea, the Kantian separation
between noumena and phenomena.
The
absolute mind incorporates all differences.
So, in that sense the absolute mind is a unity
in diversity, because it includes everything,
even contradictions are part of it.
The absolute reality manifest itself to us
in ordinary experience, in logic and natural
sciences, in psychology, politics and history,
in painting, poetry and architecture and in
religion and philosophy.
All aspects of life, everywhere, what is revealed,
what is
manifested are the absolute reality; the one
and the same absolute reality.
And its rational
structures, its rational structures are revealed
to us because we also passels that rational
structure or mind has that ability to think.
This actually takes us to the problem of
dialectical method.
The absolute being and logic, the absolute
being is the common root of the categories
of
pure concepts it is the empties and at the
same time, the most comprehensive reality.
It is
emptiest because it is not anything for example,
quote and quote it is not quote and quote
something or quote and quote some specific
entity, which can be determined which can
be limited.
So, in that sense it is empty, but at the
same time it is most comprehensive reality
because it is everything, something which
is everything cannot be something that is
a
actually the a contradiction which later on
Hegel resolves with a concept of synthesis.
The most abstract and the most real, the most
elementary and the most exalted notion, all
are concepts expressing modes of being and
are transformation of the idea of being.
So,
everything all are concepts all that exists
outside everything is the mode of a (Refer
Time: 43:26) of this absolute reality.
.
Now, what is the nature of being?
How does being, which is everything, becomes
anything else?
This is the problem which I just mentioned,
something which is
everything the Geist the spirit includes everything,
it involves everything, and it
encompasses everything.
Something which is everything cannot be something,
how can
it be something then?
A virtue of what principle or inner force
is it modified into
something so that, we can determine what it
is.
How does being which complete and static,
initiate, movements, is so that it can become
something?
See, in order to become something there should
be a movement and
movement presupposes what a space to move.
But the concept of being includes
everything and there is no space left even
that is also part of it.
So, how can you conceive
of a movement which should make the absolute
something?
Being is the most universal notion and hence
the poorest, and the emptiest since it is
the
most universal it cannot be anything specific,
it cannot be anything determinate, it
becomes totally indeterminate because it is
everything, something which is everything
cannot be something.
To be something it needs to be determined
as a thing.
But being is
by definition indeterminate.
If you define it or determine it as one thing
then it is not
everything, but being without any determination
is non-being.
So, that is the paradox here, on the one hand
since being is the most universal and the
most complete it is also for the same reason
it is the poorest and the emptiest.
In order to
become something it has to limit itself, which
means that it as to seem to be being since
it is being it cannot be something.
But being without any determination is what
non-being.
Being pure and simple is
equivalent to nonbeing.
It is both being and not being both itself
and its opposite which is
under normal circumstances philosophers consider
this as a paradox.
This as a
contradiction which cannot be entertained,
because philosophers or logicians are again
such contradictions, but Hegel says that wait
hold on this is not the time to say that you
know contradictions are to be opposed because
constitutions constitute the very core of
reality according to Hegel.
So, he introduces the concept of becoming,
it is both and immoveable and barren thing
and for that reason nothing or not being because
it is both it becomes something and the
contradiction contained in being is resolved
in the notion of becoming or development.
So, there is being and non-being and this
contradiction between being and non-being
because this being is at the same time being
and not being a contradiction and this
contradiction involves a tension, this tension
initiates a movement and as a result the
contradiction content in being is resolved
in the notion of becoming, or development.
Becoming is both being and non-being: both
are contained and reconciled in notions of
becoming.
So, as a result what happens something else
evolves it become something, and
when it become something again the problem
is that a new contradiction results, which
is
resolved by a new synthesis and so on until
we reach the absolute idea.
So, here we can see notion of dialectics.
So, Hegel was interestingly proposing that
we
should reach the absolute through contradictions,
contradictions are not something which
we should be afraid of, or we should completely
refrained our self from, but
contradictions are the very core of reality,
contradictions are the very core of human
thinking, once you approach human thinking,
once you approach rationality human
rationality and once you approach reality
historically this thing would be very clear.
Each contradiction is reconciled in a unity
a synthesis, this is what Hegel says; and
this is
contradicted further and then synthesized
in another unity, contradictions and unity
is go
on disappearing and reappearing in the process
of development until resolved in the final
unity of the absolute idea.
So, it is something like you have a contradiction
between two
opposing ideas and as a result there is a
third idea which is the result of a synthesis
of
this two opposing ideas and this synthesis
itself forms an idea, it assert something
and
automatically generates its contradiction.
So, the thesis then becomes or the thesis
automatically generates its antithesis.
So, you
have thesis and antithesis which would generate
a synthesis and once the synthesis is
generated, the synthesis itself becomes a
thesis, asserts itself as a position, which
generates its own antithesis owing to its
limitations and finite nature; anything finite
is
incomplete.
So, any finite thesis is bound to generate
its opposition or its antithesis and
then which would ultimately result in a creative
conflict of these two a contradiction,
which will generate a synthesis, which would
again become a thesis, synthesis, antithesis
synthesis.
So, it goes on and on and finally, reaches
the infinity or absolute idea.
Now contradictions; exist not only in thought,
but also in the things themselves, this is
what Hegel says.
It is not just confined to human thinking
or thought, but objects the
world itself the reality itself is composed
of or its constitutive or such contradictions,
antinomies pointed out by Kant are natural
they lie in reason and in reality contradictions
lie in the nature of reason and since reality
itself is reason or rational, reality is also
bound to be constitutive of contradictions.
Contradiction found in the idea of being is
resolved in the notion of becoming.
So, you have concepts of being, non-being
and becoming, thesis, antithesis and
synthesis.
In the process of becoming being determines
itself explains the process of
historical development and the development
of human thinking as well, the dialectical
element in thought and reality, the dialectic
is manifest in every phenomena natural,
organic political and historical.
So, in all aspects of life in all spheres
of life reality can be seen as manifestation
of this
dialectical.
It constitutes the moving soul of scientific
progress, we can see that a
scientist or a scientific theory is being
advanced, since it is a definite finite scientific
conceptualization, it is bound to generates
its antithesis its opposition and in that
creative
conflict between this thesis and antithesis
the opposition, the conflict a synthesis a
better
a mature theory evolves and in that way science
progresses.
So, human thinking
progresses through dialectical process.
Contradictions are the motive force of all
reality,
the principle of all movement and of all activity
we find in reality and they are not
unthinkable according to Hegel because thinking
itself constitute the very core structure
of thinking itself.
And contradiction is the root of all life
and movement, because without contradiction
everything would become static, everything
tends to change or pass into its opposites.
Without contradictions everything would be
dead existence, static externality nothing
would be happening but everything would be
static without that.
And again it suggests
that no single concept represents the whole
truth, truth is the whole the position which
we began with this lecture that the whole
alone is true.
All concepts are partial truths, and when
we talk about contradictions and their
overcoming, truth like rational reality is
a living process constituted by the entire
system
of concepts; nature does not stop at contradictions,
but overcomes it.
So, what Hegel was
trying to argue is that though there are contradictions
in nature in human thinking, there
are contractions in reality nature or realty
does not stop with contradictions.
There is always a tendency to overcome which
evened of contradiction to a higher form
synthesis then again it encounters a contradiction
over there which is again synthesized
or which is again overcome and the process
take us to absolute infinity.
The process
encounters contradictions and overcome them
and resolves all of them in the absolute.
Reason can capture this moving reality with
the application of the method of dialectic.
So the dialectical method, which is a method
suggested by Hegel to understand this
process; dialectical method basically suggest
that reason is not a static faculty of the
human mind; it is the product of our social
heritage the historical development of our
social group.
So, this is where you know the historian in
Hegel is relevant in
understanding his philosophical concept.
So, he says that reason is the product of
our
social heritage, the historical development
of our social group and reason encounters
contradictions and proceed by synthesizing
them in that process.
And dialectical thinking is a process that
seeks to do justice to moving living organic
existence.
So, this is something which Hegel talks about
reality, it is not a static entity it
is living dynamic moving reality.
What is dialectic?
Dialectic is a very old philosophical
concept which is present in ancient Greek
tradition, the pre-Socratic thinkers themselves
have discussed about it or the element of
dialectic is visible in there thinking as
well.
Say for example, when ancient Greek thought
talked about the theory of four elements:
earth, water, fire and air, where reality
is composed of earth and air which are sort
of
contradictions; fire and water which are also
in a position, but these apparently
contradicting or opposing elements when they
come together they constitute or reality.
So, this conception of dialectic is present
even in the thinking of the ancient Greek
philosophers and the history of dialectics
Socrates is plays a very important role and
also
Plato, because Socrates uses dialectic is
employs it the use of argument in order to
make
the opponent contradict himself, we have already
examined this in the process of
Socrates dialogues, what happens is Socrates
persistently raises certain questions and
in
that process make his opponent contradict.
So, the contradictions are exposed in that
process.
So, you make you are on or rather the concepts
which you hold as true to
contradict themselves and then realize that
there is some problem in it, in the whole
process of thinking.
But Hegels concept of dialectic is its different
it is rather richer than any of the other
consists because he consist it as synthesis
of opposites, every concept we have has
limitations and hence will pass over into
its opposite a negation of itself.
So, in one sense
the contradictions according to Hegel we have
already seen is a principle, the very core
of reality.
So, in that sense the scope of contradictions
of the scope of dialectic is rather
infinite in Hegel’s philosophy.
But when it comes to reason, he understands
it in this way
every concept or every preposition which we
assert has its limitations.
And hence will pass over into its opposite
a negation of itself.
It is a process which
consists of three stages or moments thesis
antithesis and synthesis which I have already
explained, the three moments of dialectic
is the dialectical process move from a first
stage by proposing thesis, say for example,
the entire universe revolved around earth
which is a geocentric view of Ptolemy.
So, here antithesis proposed and vacated,
but since any and every position every concept
or every thinking concept is bound to be partial
and incomplete.
The thesis which is
advocated that the entire universe revolves
around earth Ptolemy is bound to generate
its
own antithesis, which says that this is not
true; it is not true that the entire universe
revolves around earth owing to the finite
nature and finite feature of any single
proposition or any single concept.
Now there is a thesis and antithesis.
So, the dialectical process moves from a first
stage
by proposing a thesis, this moves to a second
stage which negates opposes or contradicts
the first and thus initiates an antithesis
it is not the case.
And now we have in the history
of astronomy Copernicus, who proposes a helio
centric view which is much advanced
view a mature view than the geocentric view
of Ptolemy.
This opposition is overcome by
a third stage in which the opposing stages
are synthesized.
The opposition stage of
Ptolemy is view, and not Ptolemy.
Ptolemy and not Ptolemy are synthesized in
Copernicus.
So, in one sense we can say that Copernican
view the synthesis presupposes both thesis
and antithesis, antithesis presupposes the
thesis.
So, all this things are interconnected in
that way.
So, if you concentrate or if you focus on
only one of them you seem to think
that this is a contradiction this needs to
be avoided, but Hegel would say that this
is
possible because of that.
So, there is an interconnected less between
these things, in
synthesis a new concept emerges as a higher
truth which transcends the thesis and the
antithesis.
So, the three functions of the synthesis number
one to cancel the conflict between thesis
and antithesis, because between Ptolemy and
not Ptolemy.
The conflict between these
two needs to be canceled by Copernican view,
which is much superior to preserve or
retrain the element of truth within the thesis
and antithesis and then the third one, is
to
transcend the opposition by sublimating the
conflict into a higher truth.
So, the higher
truth is the Copernican truth which is which
asserts a helio centric view.
And let us conclude here our discussion on
this; if you examine this process we can see
that this process of dialectic of encountering
contradictions and overcoming them of
having thesis, antithesis and synthesis involves
the process of in negation, preservation,
and elevation.
So, what happens a thesis that is initiated
is negated, example Ptolemy is
geocentric view is negated, it is not Ptolemy
we can put it in this way symbolically
Ptolemy and not Ptolemy.
By the Ptolemy’s view by virtue of being
a finite assertion, a partial assertion generates
its own antithesis, automatically generates
its own antithesis.
Now the synthesis
preserves both thesis and antithesis in Copernican
view Ptolemy’s preserved in terms of
being what made the former possible.
Copernican view was possible or rather
Copernicus even conceived of such a problem
because of Ptolemy and not Ptolemy.
Because of the thesis and the antithesis which
was initially initiated.
The synthesis was
made possible because of the thesis and antithesis.
So, in that sense it is not only negated,
but also preserved.
And then there is another stage the synthesis
also elevates as the new
account is superior to both the thesis and
the antithesis.
So, in that sense the dialectical process
involves these three stages, negation,
preservation and elevation.
We will discuss these aspects, and some of
the other details
relating to these aspects.
And some of them other important dimensions
of this
dialectical method in the next lecture, were
we would also be examining the concept of
spirit, the phenomenology of spirit in a different
way.
So, we will wind up this lecture
here.
Thank you.
