Farewell all
Time comes to an end. Farewell
in other words
Not-Welcoming
Not-Welcoming, in other words:
The Negation of Welcoming
I negatate
in other words
I do some thing after all
Negation is Active
It is a postulate
Not-Welcoming postulates
Farewell. I turn away from
Welcoming
and therfore
I welcome "farewelling". I welcome
"farewelling"
therefore I welcome
And you -whether
I welcome you or bid you farewell
-are- the whole time
In other words: today we discuss Hegel
One can sometimes hear
from people who wish us well
that, after all, no one
is perfect
and it is impossible for someone
to know everything
but, this is not true
because Hegel
knows everything and
today we will discuss
The Phenomenology of Spirit
more precisely
about consciousness and self-consciousness
in other words
the first part
of The Phenomenology of Spirit
the difficulty
with Hegel is that
it is
somehwat akin to
a mathematical proof
every peculiar point
of this proof
seems unimportant
but it is
part of a living whole
ergo, from the outset
we are somewhat destined to fail
for I have dared to
divide The Phenomenology of Spirit into
parts
but of course
there will be three episodes about
about the Phenomenology of Spirit
and therefore
there will be one episode
about The Phenomenology of Spirit
in which
there will be three movements
consciousness
is
knowledge which knows
about itself, that it is
and with this
we begin
with this we also in truth end
for this consciousness at the beginning
knows that it is
but does not know itself
and it does not know
but it truly means to be
it simply distinguishes
things
amongst other things, its own self
from the activity of
knowing
it sees
the tree
Hegel gives such examples
or the night
it turns away
the tree is not there
therefore it cannot say that the tree is
only that the tree was - it was
is not
being
was is passing
but passing
exists, therefore it is
therefore it is being. This is not about
some Hegelian
word play
though it is somewhat of a dance of concepts
nor is this
about opposites attracting
it is about dialectics
for this being which occured to us as
being in the beginning
which then passes
when we turn away from it
turns out to truly be
only in
the activity
of turning away and
returning to it and that is
Absolute Being - True Being
But let us not
get to far ahead of ourselves because we
we are only now
somewhat like a newborn infant
somewhat like
God
who sees everywhere
The Nothing
but Knows it to be
Indeed, here
The Phenomenology of Spirit
is every thing
it is a scientific treatise about
Absolute Truth
we are now discussing that part concerning
the birth of consciousness
It is
a myth about the birth of Being
and time
It is
a vision of the Book of Genesis
We see the tree - Hegel tells us
maybe we do not yet see the fruit
at least not in the beginning
It is the State of Nature
albeit primordial
at the dawn of philosophy it was seen that
the object was a thing
relative to us
as a seperate thing
and even
a moment existed when it seemed
that the object is permanently seperate
however
Now
exists independent of
whether
we now see the tree or whether
we saw the tree then because we turned away
from it
Now ceases to
be the permanent Now only when
we
become conscious
and then Time is born because
Time is born of the consciousness; Time does not exist
Time is a function
of conscious
it awakens to life
alongside of it
for
Locke
the State of Nature is a place
of absolute freedom
for Hobbes
it is a place
full of war
of all against all
for Rousseau
it is
pre-conscious
it is
it is Man as a wild animal
which does indeed sense
pain and desire
but within him has yet to awaken
the knowledge of his knowing
for Hegel
perhaps we simply see God?
as a pure conscious which is
conscious of itself
or maybe it is
His reflection in Man
independent of which
it is one and the same
because what comes about is
the meeting of one consciousness with another
and the one conscious is the reflection
the other
is this
the meeting of Man with Man
or God with Man
but
before we go down this path
let us discuss animals
we say that animals
in contradistinction to people
are not conscious
Man, one could say, is
is an animal which
distinguishes himself from other animals
through consciousness
this
not-conscious
is a negation of conscious
an animals sees things
around it and senses them in a way
but does not know that it knows about them
it consumes them. Man
here Hegel
calls forth
the god of wine and debauchery
sometimes
Man does everything in his power to
lose his consciousness
we wish at times to forget
not-know
rest from knowing
we seek out non-consciousness
what did we seek as an animal?
in evolution, insofar as we can tell
it seems that
of all beings
living on Earth
evolution has brought forth
as the superior being
the conscious being
one could therefore say
that progress
in the purely biological sense
is contained in
the awakening of conscious
in the animal kingdom
and when this one conscious
encounters an other
whether it is God encountering
His reflection
for we are created as a reflection
or whether Man
in the jungle
or in the desert
somewhere in his
primordial Eden
encounters another person
or when an infant
begins to notice
themselves in their mother
or in their brother
what is going on then?Here Hegel
postulates
something which we might
find appears at first
as disquieting
namely the desire
for recognition
what is this thing within us
which requires, which
needs, which demands
recogntion?
we attempt
to acquire recognition by
overcoming our own selves
ourselves who we recognize in the other
and this is a struggle
a life and death struggle
if
as a result
death
comes to our adversary in
this promordial field in this primordial
jungle
we experience a hollowing-out
not recognition, because the conscious
of the other which was supposed to
be the source of recognition
of our own existence
has been annihilated, leaving us
alone with ourselves
uncertain of our true being
uncertain of who we are
however
at the moment when
this other surrenders to us
here is born the relation of the Master
to the Slave
in other words
the Master
his servant
and again this could be
God and Adam
The Lord God is Thy Lord
but this could also be simply
primordial Man
in the jungle, who is
stronger than the other person
here arises
the shadow of recognition, because
in surrendering to us, the Slave recognizes
our existence
as true conscious
and we, we see that
in the other
a conscious, we experience
recognition
although...
not completely
because it is recognition on the part of
an inferior, thereby leaving us
unsatisfied
the Masters with regard to the Slave
is tied together by a chain
and therefore
the Master himself becomes a Slave
to the Slave
because
the Master becomes
dependent
whereas freedom
which
Hegel
describes as connected to risk
presumes independence
at the same time, the Slave
works on the behalf of the Master
the Master
resigns himself to
Stoicism
Stoicism is
a grave face
and nerves of steele in the face of
the uncertainty
of the real world
why does the Master not desire
or cannot overcome this uncertainty?
because he is incapable
because although
he is the Master of the world who
created everything
he finds himself at a certain moment
in such a situation as to be
dependent upon the servants
who for the longest time have
produced everything for him
thus he escapes
into Stoicism
meanwhile, the Slave
awakens to Scepticism
Scepticism arises
in other words doubt
the desire for rebellion even
awakens on account of work
undertaking work
the Slave begins to notice
that existence is dependent
upon him
that existence is the product of his hands
that he produces reality
a reality the Master considers his own
yet it is a reality produced
by the working class
by the Slave who
works
and the longer he works
the more he awakens to
the consciousness that he in fact is the Master
of reality
which
he lords over and produces
whereas the Master is actually his Slave
not he the Slave of the Master
the Master is dependent
totally - on the Slave's work
a struggle to the death
where does this come from?
accordance can only be had through
dialectic
this dialectic is
a struggle. Why?
why can it not be, for example, a dialogue?
because
time
is
being
what does this mean? It means that
History
History is that which
is
recal that prior to the onset of conscious
the Eternal Now was
if History is that which is
in other words; if we are History
then we are a movement
conscious
appears to be ours
but is also independent of us, whether we
want to be conscious or not, we are
conscious
and the consciousness of every moment
indeed the conscousness of momentariness
of the passage of moments
we are conscious of the passage of
stages of consciousness
the passage of days
we begin to call them days
we begin to count them. We pass
as individuals
our progeny continues
we see with our own eyes as
our parents and grandparents pass
and we know, we are conscious that
children observe as we ourselves pass
even God knows
that He will pass, for He becomes a Man
who passes
although He continues, just as we continue
The Force
May the Force be with you
but this is no joke
Hegel calls this thing
which
compels al of this - The Force
because it is a force
The Force literally compels
because the Force...
nothing is
outside of this circle
The Force compels everything
including itself
and a Force which compels itself
must stop itself
sometimes
for how else can Force work upon
Force itself?
only by grinding itself to a halt
Force forces Force
what exactly is the Force of Recognition?
it is a common saying that
human beings cannot live without love
when we speak of recognition
it might seem that
we wish to rebel
that this is too
shallow
but would anyone rebel against
the postulate that
it is impossible to live without love?
what else is love other than
recognition
in full
of the existence of the other human
and the Slave?
does the Slave possess
recognition?
is the Slave recognized as a human, or only valued?
for his work
and the Master?
in his eyes, does the Master experience recognition?
he is recognized as the Master by the Slave
of course
but the Slave is subservient
unequal
and therefore the Master experiences
a hollowing-out, not recognition
because recognition is
something which means
recognition of equals
a struggle to the death
at the moment when conscious
understands through work
that it is the Master
it rebels
it overthrows the Master
but it does not become the Master
only
something absolute
something completely human
for here Man
overcomes Mastery and
Slavery
and achieves freedom
self-consciousness
the unhappy conscious
are we free conscious?
or
are we still unhappy?
is History
over now?
did it end at the moment when
absolute knowledge
is fully possessed?
or does it roll along
for example
in the birth of every child?
History opens again
this is all insofar as consciousness is concerned
this is not all insofar as the Phenomenology
of Spirit is concerned
but it is all insofar as consciousness is concerned
Hegel helps us understand everything
Hegel
is the absolute opposite of
all those who claim that
philosophy
is
meandering
in the dark
or
that philosophy
is a very sophisticated way
of saying "I don't know"
Hegel is also
the spirit
of our times
there is no
aspect of our lives
which is not saturated by his thinking
by this thought
indeed
no one has managed to undermine his thought
no one
because it is absolutely true
only
amongst his
best critics
do we see the argument that
his thought is
indeed absolute knowledge, but also worthless
this is an open question
of course
this is not the only
theme
in serious criticism
of historicism
and we will
enter this subject deeper
but
as always
in each episode
I wish for the principle thought
of a given philosopher
to have
the opportunity to present itself
in the strongest possible way
does Hegel
indicate somewhere
does he consider why
humans, who use
Dynonysys and other gods
attempts to escape his conscoussness?
yes, in
the first two parts
of the Phenomenology of Spirit
he explains that
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom
so says Hegel
conscious is the Lord
in the sense that
not only in this sense
this is the most beautiful thing about Hegel
Hegel is not
either
a total
explanation for religion or
a total rejection of religion; he is both
so
conscious
the knowledge that we know
gives rise to fear and it doesn't matter if
it is the consciousness of the highest conscious
this fear is an expression of
the Force which compels us
in the opposite direction
because
everything postulated
negates
and all that negates postulates
to put it in mathematical terms
-1 is the activity of subtraction
but through this activity the rise of
a new number takes place
+1 is the activity of addition
but through this activity we depart from
we negate
the previous number we are counting from
conscious is
the activity of postulating knowledge
of itself
which at the same time negates
the simplicity
of animal life, of which we know
because we are conscious, that
animals do not fear
on account of a consciousness they do not posses
and we as humans wish to return to this
we desire a lack of
fear?
or is it a feeling of power that I have consciousness and
and I can
negate it?
treat it as something temporary?
I like to use my power over my consciousness?
I have the power to turn it off?
the desire for non-consciousness
leads through
the valley
of departing from
building
causes and goals
of actions
because in fact
in pursuing non-conscious, that is
in the animalization of Man
there arises
a dialectic
between the non-conscious animal
and the conscious animal
an animal which
has only its claws for its use
or wings
contra an animal which also has
knowledge
and will
a struggle to the death
a more interesting question
arises here:
does this mean
that in the Kingdom of animals there are
or there were
...Hegel of course wrote prior to Darwin, but
but this does not...one must...
remember that
the theory of evolution
was not born with Darwin's work
Darwin explained evolution
through natural selection
of the species
however the idea that evolution
....already in the Platonic dialogues we see Plato noting
evolution
of plant life
Farewell all
Time comes to an end
