The Cunning of Geist

036 - Sublation: The Driving Wheel of Hegelian Dialectics

September 06, 2021 Gregory Novak
The Cunning of Geist
036 - Sublation: The Driving Wheel of Hegelian Dialectics
Show Notes

Hegel called sublation one of the most important concepts in all of philosophy.  Hegel scholar Stephen Houlgate calls it "the absolute immanent 'method' of speculative philosophy."

The English word "sublation" is a translation of the German work "aufhebung."  But the English term is more or less a placeholder for the Hegel's German word, as there is no direct equivalent term in English.  That is because it has two definitions: to preserve, to maintain, as well as to cease, to end.  

How does such apparent contradiction get resolved into a key concept of all philosophy?  This podcast episode explores this important notion from several standpoints.  

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