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EspañolTHE PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT
Hegel's work '''Phänomenologie des Geistes''' (1807) is called '''The Phenomenology of Spirit''' or '''The Phenomenology of Mind''' in English; the German word ''Geist'' has connotations of both spirit and mind in English. It is one of Hegel's most important philosophical works; he himself regarded it as the foundation of his later works. Roughly taking the form of a Bildungsroman, it explores the nature and development of its protagonist--mind/spirit--showing how it evolves through a process of internal contradiction and development from the most primitive aspect of sense-perception through all of the forms of subjective and objective mind, including art, religion, and philosophy, to absolute knowledge that comprehends this entire developmental process as part of itself. Thus it also lays out an entire system of metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy.
The Preface to the ''Phenomenology'', all by itself, is considered one of Hegel's major works and a major text in the history of philosophy, because in it he sets out the core of his philosophical method and what distinguishes it from that of any previous philosophy, especially that of his German Idealist predecessors (Kant, Fichte, and Schelling; although debate exists whether Kant is an idealist amongst academians).
Hegel's approach, referred to as the Hegelian method, consists of actually examining consciousness' experience of both itself and of its objects and eliciting the contradictions and dynamic movement that come to light in looking at this experience. Hegel uses the phrase "pure looking at" (''reines Zusehen'') to describe this method. If consciousness just pays attention to what is actually present in itself and its relation to its objects, it will see that what looks like stable and fixed forms dissolve into a dialectical movement. Thus philosophy, according to Hegel, cannot just set out arguments based on a flow of deductive reasoning. Rather, it must look at actual consciousness, as it really exists.
Hegel also argues strongly against the epistemological emphasis of modern philosophy from Descartes through Kant, which he describes as having to first establish the nature and criteria of knowledge prior to actually knowing anything, because this would imply an infinite regress, a foundationalism that Hegel maintains is self-contradictory and impossible. Rather, he maintains, we must examine actual knowing as it occurs in real knowledge processes. This is why Hegel uses the term "phenomenology". "Phenomenology" comes from the Greek word for "to appear", and the phenomenology of mind is thus the study of how consciousness or mind appears to itself. In Hegel's dynamic system, it is the study of the successive appearances of the mind to itself, because on examination each one dissolves into a later, more comprehensive and integrated form or structure of mind.
Whereas the Preface was written after Hegel completed the ''Phenomenology'', the Introduction was written beforehand. It covers much of the same ground, but from a somewhat different perspective.
In the Introduction, Hegel addresses the seeming paradox that we cannot evaluate our faculty of knowledge in terms of its ability to know the Absolute without first having a criterion for what the Absolute is, one that is superior to our knowledge of the Absolute. Yet, we could only have such a criterion if we already had the improved knowledge that we seek.
To resolve this paradox, Hegel adopts a method whereby the knowing that is characteristic of a particular stage of consciousness is evaluated using the criterion presupposed by consciousness itself. At each stage, consciousness knows something, and at the same time distinguishes the object of that knowledge as different from what it knows. Hegel and his readers will simply "look on" while consciousness compares its actual knowledge of the object --what the object is "for consciousness" -- with its criterion for what the object must be "in itself". One would expect that, when consciousness finds that its knowledge does not agree with its object, consciousness would adjust its knowledge to conform to its object. However, in a characteristic reversal, Hegel explains that under his method, the opposite occurs.
As just noted, consciousness' criterion for what the object should be is not supplied externally, rather it is supplied by consciousness itself. Therefore, like its knowledge, the "object" that consciousness distinguishes from its knowledge is really just the object "for consciousness" - it is the object as envisioned by that stage of consciousness. Thus, in attempting to resolve the discord between knowledge and object, consciousness inevitably alters the object as well. In fact, the new "object" for consciousness is developed from consciousness' inadequate knowledge of the previous "object." Thus, what consciousness really does is to modify its "object" to conform to its knowledge. Then the cycle begins anew as consciousness attempts to examine what it knows about this new "object".
The reason for this reversal is that, for Hegel, the separation between consciousness and its object is no more real than consciousness' inadequate knowledge of that object. The knowledge is inadequate only because of that separation. At the end of the process, when the object has been fully "spiritualized" by successive cycles of consciousness' experience, consciousness will fully know the object and at the same time fully recognize that the object is none other than itself.
At each stage of development, Hegel, adds, "we" (Hegel and his readers) see this development of the new object out of the knowledge of the previous one, but the consciousness that we are observing does not. As far as it is concerned, it experiences the dissolution of its knowledge in a mass of contradictions, and the emergence of a new object for knowledge, without understanding how that new object has been born.
Main articles: Master-slave dialectic
One of the most influential sections of the book is the discussion of the dialectic of the lord and the bondsman. To become self-conscious every man must engage in a life-death struggle. Although subjugated, the bondsman through his mortal fear attains self-consciousness.
Arthur Schopenhauer has criticised Phenomenology of Spirit as being characteristic of the vacuous verbiage he attributed to Hegel.
A dialectical process has been erroneously attributed to Hegel.
Preface: On Scientific Cognition
Introduction
A. Consciousness
:I. Sense-certainty
:II. Perception
:III. Force and the Understanding
B. Self-consciousness
:IV. The Truth of Self-certainty
::A. Independence and dependence of self-consciousness: lordship and bondage.
::B. Freedom of self-consciousness: stoicism, scepticism, and the unhappy consciousness.
C. (AA.) Reason
:V. The Certainty and Truth of Reason
::A. Observing reason
::B. The actualization of rational self-consciousness through its own activity.
::C. Individuality which takes itself to be real in and for itself.
(BB.) Spirit
:VI. Spirit
::A. The true Spirit. The ethical order.
::B. Self-alienated Spirit. Culture.
::C. Spirit that is certain of itself. Morality.
(CC.) Religion
:VII. Religion
::A. Natural religion
::B. Religion in the form of art.
::C. The revealed religion.
(DD.) Absolute Knowing
:VIII. Absolute Knowing.
★ ''Phenomenology of Spirit'', translated by A. V. Miller with analysis of the text and foreword by J. N. Findlay (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977) ISBN 0-19-824597-1
★ ''Phenomenology of Mind'', translated by J. B. Baillie (London:Harper & Row, 1967)
★ ''Hegel's Preface to the Phenomenology of Spirit'', translated with introduction, running commentary and notes by Yirmiyahu Yovel (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004) ISBN 0-691-12052-8.
★ ''Texts and Commentary: Hegel's Preface to His System in a New Translation With Commentary on Facing Pages, and "Who Thinks Abstractly?"'', translated by Walter Kaufmann (South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press, 1977) ISBN 0-268-01069-2.
★ "Introduction", "The Phenomenology of Spirit", translated by Kenley R. Dove, in Martin Heidegger, "Hegel's Concept of Experience" (New York: Harper & Row, 1970)
★ "Sense-Certainty", Chapter I, "The Phenomenology of Spirit", translated by Kenley R. Dove, "The Philosophical Forum", Vol. 32, No 4
★ "Stoicism", Chapter IV, B, "The Phenomenology of Spirit", translated by Kenley R. Dove, "The Philosophical Forum", Vol. 37, No 3
★ "Absolute Knowing", Chapter VIII, "The Phenomenology of Spirit", translated by Kenley R. Dove, "The Philosophical Forum", Vol. 32, No 4
★ ''Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit: Selections Translated and Annotated by Howard P. Kainz''. The Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-01076-2
★ Heidegger, Martin, 1988. ''Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-32766-0
★ Hyppolite, Jean, 1979. ''Genesis and Structure of "Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit.'' Evanston: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 0-8101-0594-2 A classic commentary.
★ Kojève, Alexandre. ''Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology of Spirit.'' ISBN 0-8014-9203-3
★ Loewenberg, J., 1965. ''Hegel's Phenomenology. Dialogues on the Life of Mind''. La Salle IL.
★ Taylor, Charles, 1975. ''Hegel.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29199-2
★ Solomon, Robert C., 1983. ''In the Spirit of Hegel.'' New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-195-03650-6
★ Pippin, Robert B., 1989. ''Hegel's Idealism: the Satisfactions of Self-Consciousness.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-521-37923-7.
★ Forster, Michael N., 1998. ''Hegel's Idea of a Phenomenology of Spirit.'' University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-25742-8.
★ Harris, H. S. ''Hegel's Ladder'', 2 vols.
★ Harris, H. S., 1995. ''Hegel: Phenomenology and System.'' Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN 0-872-20281-X
★ Westphal, Merold, 1998. ''History and Truth in Hegel’s Phenomenology.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-21221-9
★ Stern, Robert, 2002. ''Hegel and the Phenomenology of Spirit'' London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21788-1 An introduction for students.
★ Westphal, Kenneth R., 2003. ''Hegel's Epistemology: A Philosophical Introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit.'' Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN 0-87220-645-9
★ Russon, John, 2004. ''Reading Hegel's Phenomenology''. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-21692-3.
★ Kadvany, John, 2001, ''Imre Lakatos and the Guises of Reason.'' Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2659-0
Electronic versions of the English translation of Hegel's Phenomology of Mind are available at:
★ University of Idaho: The Phenomenology of Mind
★ Marxists.org: Hegel’s Phenomenology of Mind
| Contents |
| The Preface |
| Introduction |
| Self-Consciousness |
| Lordship and Bondage |
| Reason |
| Criticism |
| Hegelian dialectic |
| Contents |
| English Translations of ''The Phenomenology of Spirit'' |
| Secondary literature |
| External links |
The Preface
The Preface to the ''Phenomenology'', all by itself, is considered one of Hegel's major works and a major text in the history of philosophy, because in it he sets out the core of his philosophical method and what distinguishes it from that of any previous philosophy, especially that of his German Idealist predecessors (Kant, Fichte, and Schelling; although debate exists whether Kant is an idealist amongst academians).
Hegel's approach, referred to as the Hegelian method, consists of actually examining consciousness' experience of both itself and of its objects and eliciting the contradictions and dynamic movement that come to light in looking at this experience. Hegel uses the phrase "pure looking at" (''reines Zusehen'') to describe this method. If consciousness just pays attention to what is actually present in itself and its relation to its objects, it will see that what looks like stable and fixed forms dissolve into a dialectical movement. Thus philosophy, according to Hegel, cannot just set out arguments based on a flow of deductive reasoning. Rather, it must look at actual consciousness, as it really exists.
Hegel also argues strongly against the epistemological emphasis of modern philosophy from Descartes through Kant, which he describes as having to first establish the nature and criteria of knowledge prior to actually knowing anything, because this would imply an infinite regress, a foundationalism that Hegel maintains is self-contradictory and impossible. Rather, he maintains, we must examine actual knowing as it occurs in real knowledge processes. This is why Hegel uses the term "phenomenology". "Phenomenology" comes from the Greek word for "to appear", and the phenomenology of mind is thus the study of how consciousness or mind appears to itself. In Hegel's dynamic system, it is the study of the successive appearances of the mind to itself, because on examination each one dissolves into a later, more comprehensive and integrated form or structure of mind.
Introduction
Whereas the Preface was written after Hegel completed the ''Phenomenology'', the Introduction was written beforehand. It covers much of the same ground, but from a somewhat different perspective.
In the Introduction, Hegel addresses the seeming paradox that we cannot evaluate our faculty of knowledge in terms of its ability to know the Absolute without first having a criterion for what the Absolute is, one that is superior to our knowledge of the Absolute. Yet, we could only have such a criterion if we already had the improved knowledge that we seek.
To resolve this paradox, Hegel adopts a method whereby the knowing that is characteristic of a particular stage of consciousness is evaluated using the criterion presupposed by consciousness itself. At each stage, consciousness knows something, and at the same time distinguishes the object of that knowledge as different from what it knows. Hegel and his readers will simply "look on" while consciousness compares its actual knowledge of the object --what the object is "for consciousness" -- with its criterion for what the object must be "in itself". One would expect that, when consciousness finds that its knowledge does not agree with its object, consciousness would adjust its knowledge to conform to its object. However, in a characteristic reversal, Hegel explains that under his method, the opposite occurs.
As just noted, consciousness' criterion for what the object should be is not supplied externally, rather it is supplied by consciousness itself. Therefore, like its knowledge, the "object" that consciousness distinguishes from its knowledge is really just the object "for consciousness" - it is the object as envisioned by that stage of consciousness. Thus, in attempting to resolve the discord between knowledge and object, consciousness inevitably alters the object as well. In fact, the new "object" for consciousness is developed from consciousness' inadequate knowledge of the previous "object." Thus, what consciousness really does is to modify its "object" to conform to its knowledge. Then the cycle begins anew as consciousness attempts to examine what it knows about this new "object".
The reason for this reversal is that, for Hegel, the separation between consciousness and its object is no more real than consciousness' inadequate knowledge of that object. The knowledge is inadequate only because of that separation. At the end of the process, when the object has been fully "spiritualized" by successive cycles of consciousness' experience, consciousness will fully know the object and at the same time fully recognize that the object is none other than itself.
At each stage of development, Hegel, adds, "we" (Hegel and his readers) see this development of the new object out of the knowledge of the previous one, but the consciousness that we are observing does not. As far as it is concerned, it experiences the dissolution of its knowledge in a mass of contradictions, and the emergence of a new object for knowledge, without understanding how that new object has been born.
Self-Consciousness
Lordship and Bondage
Main articles: Master-slave dialectic
One of the most influential sections of the book is the discussion of the dialectic of the lord and the bondsman. To become self-conscious every man must engage in a life-death struggle. Although subjugated, the bondsman through his mortal fear attains self-consciousness.
Reason
Criticism
Arthur Schopenhauer has criticised Phenomenology of Spirit as being characteristic of the vacuous verbiage he attributed to Hegel.
Hegelian dialectic
A dialectical process has been erroneously attributed to Hegel.
Contents
Preface: On Scientific Cognition
Introduction
A. Consciousness
:I. Sense-certainty
:II. Perception
:III. Force and the Understanding
B. Self-consciousness
:IV. The Truth of Self-certainty
::A. Independence and dependence of self-consciousness: lordship and bondage.
::B. Freedom of self-consciousness: stoicism, scepticism, and the unhappy consciousness.
C. (AA.) Reason
:V. The Certainty and Truth of Reason
::A. Observing reason
::B. The actualization of rational self-consciousness through its own activity.
::C. Individuality which takes itself to be real in and for itself.
(BB.) Spirit
:VI. Spirit
::A. The true Spirit. The ethical order.
::B. Self-alienated Spirit. Culture.
::C. Spirit that is certain of itself. Morality.
(CC.) Religion
:VII. Religion
::A. Natural religion
::B. Religion in the form of art.
::C. The revealed religion.
(DD.) Absolute Knowing
:VIII. Absolute Knowing.
English Translations of ''The Phenomenology of Spirit''
★ ''Phenomenology of Spirit'', translated by A. V. Miller with analysis of the text and foreword by J. N. Findlay (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977) ISBN 0-19-824597-1
★ ''Phenomenology of Mind'', translated by J. B. Baillie (London:Harper & Row, 1967)
★ ''Hegel's Preface to the Phenomenology of Spirit'', translated with introduction, running commentary and notes by Yirmiyahu Yovel (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004) ISBN 0-691-12052-8.
★ ''Texts and Commentary: Hegel's Preface to His System in a New Translation With Commentary on Facing Pages, and "Who Thinks Abstractly?"'', translated by Walter Kaufmann (South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press, 1977) ISBN 0-268-01069-2.
★ "Introduction", "The Phenomenology of Spirit", translated by Kenley R. Dove, in Martin Heidegger, "Hegel's Concept of Experience" (New York: Harper & Row, 1970)
★ "Sense-Certainty", Chapter I, "The Phenomenology of Spirit", translated by Kenley R. Dove, "The Philosophical Forum", Vol. 32, No 4
★ "Stoicism", Chapter IV, B, "The Phenomenology of Spirit", translated by Kenley R. Dove, "The Philosophical Forum", Vol. 37, No 3
★ "Absolute Knowing", Chapter VIII, "The Phenomenology of Spirit", translated by Kenley R. Dove, "The Philosophical Forum", Vol. 32, No 4
★ ''Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit: Selections Translated and Annotated by Howard P. Kainz''. The Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-01076-2
Secondary literature
★ Heidegger, Martin, 1988. ''Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-32766-0
★ Hyppolite, Jean, 1979. ''Genesis and Structure of "Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit.'' Evanston: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 0-8101-0594-2 A classic commentary.
★ Kojève, Alexandre. ''Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology of Spirit.'' ISBN 0-8014-9203-3
★ Loewenberg, J., 1965. ''Hegel's Phenomenology. Dialogues on the Life of Mind''. La Salle IL.
★ Taylor, Charles, 1975. ''Hegel.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29199-2
★ Solomon, Robert C., 1983. ''In the Spirit of Hegel.'' New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-195-03650-6
★ Pippin, Robert B., 1989. ''Hegel's Idealism: the Satisfactions of Self-Consciousness.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-521-37923-7.
★ Forster, Michael N., 1998. ''Hegel's Idea of a Phenomenology of Spirit.'' University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-25742-8.
★ Harris, H. S. ''Hegel's Ladder'', 2 vols.
★ Harris, H. S., 1995. ''Hegel: Phenomenology and System.'' Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN 0-872-20281-X
★ Westphal, Merold, 1998. ''History and Truth in Hegel’s Phenomenology.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-21221-9
★ Stern, Robert, 2002. ''Hegel and the Phenomenology of Spirit'' London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21788-1 An introduction for students.
★ Westphal, Kenneth R., 2003. ''Hegel's Epistemology: A Philosophical Introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit.'' Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN 0-87220-645-9
★ Russon, John, 2004. ''Reading Hegel's Phenomenology''. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-21692-3.
★ Kadvany, John, 2001, ''Imre Lakatos and the Guises of Reason.'' Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2659-0
External links
Electronic versions of the English translation of Hegel's Phenomology of Mind are available at:
★ University of Idaho: The Phenomenology of Mind
★ Marxists.org: Hegel’s Phenomenology of Mind
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