Hegel and German Idealism

The name Samuel Taylor Coleridge calls forth, in most people's minds, The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan, Christabel, and other such great poems. Coleridge was, however, also a philosopher, although he is not often recognized as such outside of scholarly circles. Besides poetry, Coleridge also authored a series of scholarly works such as Biographia Epistolaris, Biographia Literaria, Logic, On the Constitution of the Church and State, Theological and Political Notes, Philosophical Lectures, and Formation of a More Comprehensive Theory of Life, amongst others. In his philosophical works, he made a serious attempt to develop a systematic Christian "Logosophia" of nature, religion, philosophy, and science. Coleridge, in his philosophy of nature, attempted to reconcile two very different systems of thought by which he was greatly influenced. These were Christian theology and the dynamic Naturphilosophie of such philosophers as Schelling, Fichte, and Steffens. He w...

Surprisingly, perhaps, it turns out that the face is not only a finite object of art but also an infinite art object, yielding three inimitable standards of facial beauty, but what these really entail remains essentially unexplored. Surprising new research indicates a fundamental restriction on achievable aesthetic meaning within portraiture.

Readers interested in the latest findings on the face are advised that the present paper is part of a series of writings on this page attempting a total integration of the Visage of Man through theoretical comprehension, scientific investigation, and sensual appreciation of its place in actual life and within artistic conventions as ordinarily practiced.

Three other papers on this page should be read for an integrated and particularized approach to the context, the form (or plan), the neurophysiological underpinnings, and the exhibition of the Trifurcated Face of Man (namely, 'Prospectus of the Society for Faces,' 'The Soul of Life and the Spirit of War,' and 'Desiderata for Primary Exhibition of the Face').

A planned fifth paper ('The Human Face in Life and Death') in due course will, it is hoped, summarize, clarify, and strengthen the contributions to the theory of the face by the present author and form the basis for substantial new research on the idealist theory of the Visage of Man in the 21st century. The depth of the human face remains essentially unknown within idealism and is totally masked by the delusions of materialism.

Integral study of individual facial conformation at first maturity with the face in death (the Totenmask) in volunteers across the globe soon will be proposed, more or less as first envisioned in the 'Prospectus of the Society for Faces,' but with concrete reference to true (idealist) anthropology and its newfound insight into the profound psychophysical separation constituting Trifurcated Man.

Resumen: Una de las más frecuentes críticas dirigidas contra Hegel es que su sistema crea una totalidad finalizante que determina lo que es como absolutamente necesario. La Ciencia de la Lógica, siendo el edificio conceptual de dicho sistema, es el lugar más apropiado para determinar el signi-ficado específico de los conceptos utilizados por Hegel. A continuación se ofrece un análisis detallado del capítulo sobre realidad (Wirklichkeit), para mostrar cómo el concepto de necesidad absoluta no sólo incluye dentro de sí, sino que además contiene como elemento estructural, el concepto de contingencia. Con ello se pretende generar una interpretación deflacionista, en la cual el carácter absolutamente necesario de la realidad no deberá entenderse como fundado en un fin pre-existente que determina de manera inexorable la realidad, sino como un movimiento interpretativo, en reme-moración, de su proceso. Palabras clave: Hegel, Idealismo Alemán, Filosofía Trascendental, Modalidad, Epistemología.
Abstract: One of the most frequent criticisms raised against Hegel is that his system creates a finalising totality which determines what is as absolutely necessary. The Science of Logic, being the conceptual edifice upon which his whole system is built, is the most appropriate place to determine the specific meaning of the concepts used by Hegel. The following paper offers a detailed analysis of the chapter on Actuality (Wirklichkeit) in the Science of Logic, in order to show how the concept of absolute necessity not only includes within it, but also contains as a structural element, the concept of contingency. In this manner a deflationary interpretation is generated in which the absolutely necessary character of reality should not be understood as grounded on a pre-established end that inexorably determines actuality, but rather as an interpretive movement, in recollection, of its process.

The name Samuel Taylor Coleridge calls forth, in most people's minds, The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan, Christabel, and other such great poems. Coleridge was, however, also a philosopher, although he is not often recognized as such outside of scholarly circles. Besides poetry, Coleridge also authored a series of scholarly works such as Biographia Epistolaris, Biographia Literaria, Logic, On the Constitution of the Church and State, Theological and Political Notes, Philosophical Lectures, and Formation of a More Comprehensive Theory of Life, amongst others. In his philosophical works, he made

This thesis presents a critical approach to the concept of the substantial Absolute Truth of history developed by Hegel in The Philosophy of History. Namely, it focuses on the questions of this concept’s sustainability, defensibility, and justifiability, when put against David Hume’s strictly empirical epistemology developed in A Treatise of Human Nature. To do this, I provide an in-depth overview of Hegel’s philosophy by means of the primary literature, focusing on his conception of dialectics, necessary conceptual relations, and world-history. I follow the same procedure for Hume, focusing on the basics of his epistemology and on three of his analyses where it is put into use.

The application of Hume’s epistemology to Hegel’s theory shows that the concept of the Absolute Truth in history becomes unsustainable, indefensible, and unjustifiable when placed under the scrutiny of empirical investigation. The critical analysis reveals that Hegel’s idea of truth in history is merely an imposition of the structure of the human mind onto the empirical sense data. This in no way demonstrates or proves the claim about the Absolute Truth in history. Consequently, the thesis suggests that there might be a need to re-think the way we approach history and to focus strictly on the empirical whenever we attempt to make substantial claims about the world. Finally, the thesis hints at a possible interpretation of Hegel’s Philosophy of History as the prime example of the natural structure of the human mind that can be subject to subsequent analysis.

Resumen: Uno de los fundamentos más reconocidos para una lectura metafísica de Hegel es el carácter totalitario de un sistema que intenta abarcar todo lo que es, determinando el lugar y papel de cada parte en el todo. Si la verdad es el todo, sólo tendremos acceso a ella al acceder a éste. Este artículo pretende mostrar que el todo en Hegel nunca es accesible por completo al pensamiento; que su característica principal es estar determinado de manera negativa, es decir, por lo que no es. Para ello ofreceré un análisis de los conceptos de infinito y necesidad en la Ciencia de la lógica, proporcionando así algunas herramientas conceptuales para una lectura no-metafísica de Hegel; es decir, una lectura que enfatiza elementos hermenéuticos y críticos que comúnmente no se asocian con la filosofía de Hegel.
Abstract: One of the strongest pillars for a metaphysical reading of Hegel is the totalitarian aspect of a system that attempts to cover all of reality, determining the place and function of each being in the whole. If the truth is the whole, we will only gain access to it through access to the whole. This paper attempts to show that the whole in Hegel is never totally accessible to thinking; that its main characteristic is to be determined negatively, that is, by what it is not. To do so, an analysis of the concepts of the infinite and necessity will be offered as they appear in the Science of Logic, in order to provide certain conceptual tools for a non-metaphysical reading *

In the *Science of Logic*, Hegel states unequivocally that the category of “life” is a strictly logical, or pure, form of thinking.  His treatment of actual life – i.e., that which empirically constitutes nature – arises first in his *Philosophy of Nature* when the logic is applied under the conditions of space and time.  Nevertheless, many commentators find Hegel’s development of this category as a purely logical one especially difficult to accept.  Indeed, they find this development only comprehensible as long as one simultaneously assumes that Hegel breaks his promise to let the logic do the leading.  However, if Hegel were to in fact allow the logical development to be led by biological analogies at this point, problems would ensue.  Not only would it contradict his own speculative method, which should secure the necessity of the categories, but it would also endanger the ontological generality of the category of life itself.  Beyond undermining his method and the logical integrity of the category, however, I will argue that such a reading makes the transition to the next category of “cognition” unintelligible and problematic.  My aim in the first part of this paper is to argue how logical life can be read as a pure category.  I then argue in the second part how my reconstruction makes the transition to cognition intelligible without resorting to profane or supernatural interpretations.