047 - Is There a Method to Hegel's Philosophy? No. And Yes.

Does Hegel have in mind a systematic procedure, technique, process, or plan underlying his philosophy?  Some say yes, others say no.

It is my belief that there is in fact a method; and it is the movement, the life, the evolution of thought itself.  Hegel referred to this as dialectics.  And his important notion of sublation plays a crucial role in dialectical thinking.  

Some say Hegel's method develops as his logic unfolds, but that at the beginning of his Science of Logic  Hegel's philosophy is presuppositionless.  While this is true in a certain sense this beginning is also the result of a sublation of immediate  consciousness and reason.  So the dialectic is there at the beginning.  If there is a "method" in Hegel's philosophy it is this.

This episode explores what Hegel has to say about this in detail. 

Transcript

Gregory Novak 0:01

Hello, this is Gregory Nowak. This is the cunning of Geist episode 47. Welcome back. The purpose of this podcast is to discuss philosophy, psychology and science, with an emphasis on Hagle, with the aim of promoting right-brain holistic reasoning in addition to left brain either or thinking. Please follow the podcast, Facebook page at cunning of Geist. And also, please follow me on Twitter also at cunning of Geist. And this episode, I will be discussing a very important question that comes up again and again and again, regarding Hegel's philosophy. And it is this. Does, Hey, go proceed from some method. In other words, does he have an imminent process in mind, which he uses to produce his flume in his philosophical writings? Now we just had a major discussion on this and the halal study group on Facebook and it comes up again again and again, and people have different opinions on it. And it's quite a rich subject, so we're going to delve into it today. Now. The conclusion that I've come to is that he indeed does have a method. And this method is the movement, the life and the evolution of thought itself. But importantly, it is not some presupposed way of thinking or preordained approach. To philosophy. One of the beauties of Hegel's philosophy is that he begins truly without any presuppositions in his thinking. This allows, thought reason to go where it may on its own. now. This certainly presupposes a free and unbounded reasoning, which we'll discuss. and this free and unbounded reasoning and how this operates is his method. No more, no less. Now. Let's back up for a second. What do we mean by the term method? Well, Looked it up in the dictionary and according to Webster, Method is one, a systematic procedure technique or motive inquiry employed by or proper to. A particular discipline or art too. It can be a systematic plan, followed him presenting material for instruction. Or three, it can be a way technique or process of her for doing something. And lastly for it can be embody of skills or techniques. Now, does this sound familiar at all to anything Hagle does. Does Hegel's philosophy use a systematic procedure, a technique, a process, or some plan? Well, that's the$64,000 question. Now. It's my contention that Hagle does not begin with any plan or procedure other than allowing thought to develop Freeling on its own. But it just, what does this mean? Let's get into this and this is really going to be the subject of this. episode. No. Hagle is clear in the beginning of the science of logic. that he starts with pure, immediate presupposition was being. And this is one of the most discussed and debated topics in all of her Gaylene isn't is, is this correct? Is he allowed to start with precept position was being is a truly precept positionless, et cetera, et cetera. Let me quote directly from the early part of the science of logic. From Hagle quote. That's the beginning must be an absolute or what is synonymous here and abstract beginning. And so it may not suppose anything. I must not be mediated by anything nor have a ground, rather it is to be itself the ground of the entire science. Consequently, it must be purely and simply an immediacy rather merely immediacy itself. Just as it cannot possess any determination relative to anything else. So two, it cannot contain within itself. Any determination, any content. For any such would be a distinguishing and an interrelationship of distinct moments. And consequently a mediation. To beginning, therefore is pure being in quote. No. Hey, it goes pretty precise here. Nothing is pursued in this beginning of his, in that. Science of logic. There's no method. There's no process. There's no technique. There's no way of thinking about things. It's just the absolute ground of immediacy, pure being. Now. Critics have many objections to this. some say, well, he's presupposing a thinker here. Who's who's who's thinking here. Or he's a presupposing, a reader of the logic or he's he is presupposing suppositions themselves in order to get to presupposition lessness and I've, I've wondered about that one myself. And these are all points to consider. Now. Let me explain in more detail. What I think Hagle is doing here. There's a tip off. A bit earlier in the logic Cagle states quote, there was nothing, nothing in heaven. Or in nature or in mind or anywhere else, which does not equally contain both immediacy and mediation. So these two determinations reveal themselves to be uncelebrated and inseparable and the opposition between them to be a nullity and quote. This is a very famous sentence from the science of logic. So given what Henkels just said here, he's very much aware of the fact that his beginning of the logic is pure being must be both immediate and mediated. Uh, huh. And he actually discusses this. So, what is mediated here? Hegel's initial immediacy. Well, he provides the answer quote. The beginning is logical in that it is to be made in the element of thought that is free. And for itself in pure knowing it is mediated because pure knowing is the ultimate absolute truth of consciousness in quote. Here's what Hagle is getting at. I believe. There is both a ground. And an active sense to thought a passive and an active mode is Hagle study group member. Julian Hensel calls it when he was. Providing me with very valuable. thinking for this, this episode. The ground is pure. Immediate consciousness is the medium in which thought manifests. now. There's a mediation going on because pure knowing pure reason is the truth of the ground of consciousness. This is the conclusion that is reached and Hegel's initial work. The phenomenology of spirit. He goes from pure media consciousness in the beginning to pure knowing at the end. So Hagle is conceived of this first sublimation in the beginning of the logic. The logic begins with justice, pure knowledge. This is the mediation between immediate consciousness. and reason. So this pure knowledge, pure reason is where we begin in the logic. Now. Very interesting here though. Hagle then brings this mediation back to immediacy. And he does this by removing any reflections or opinions from this peer, knowing he states quote. Now, starting from this determination appear knowledge, all that is needed to ensure that the beginning remains imminent in its scientific development is to consider rather reading oneself of all other reflections and opinions, whatever, simply to take up what is there before us in quote. He continues. Quote, pure knowing is concentrated into this. Unity has some bladed, all reference to and other intermediation. It is without any distinction. And as this distinction, Plus CSUs itself to be knowledge. What is present is only simple. Immediacy, simple immediacy is itself an expression of reflection and contains a reference to its distinction from what is mediated. This simple immediacy, therefore in its true expansion, expression is pure being in quote. Now, this is a very remarkable concept. Hagle is saying here that he's beginning with peer immediacy yet this immediacy is in fact gone through a mediation within itself. And. This gets around the. The problem that I had about presuming suppositions to get to precept position. Lessness. So pure thought pure knowledge goes through a self mediation to arrive at the immediacy of presupposition was being. And Hagle speaks to this. In his introduction to the encyclopedia of philosophical sciences. In paragraph 19, he says, quote, Thought must not be taken in the sense of a method or form. But in the sense of the self-developing totality of its laws in particular terms. These laws are the work of thought itself. And not effect, which it finds, it must submit to. End quote. Now, this is very important to understand. Thought develops its own laws and determinations, which is what the logic is all about. These determinations do not come from something outside or from some predetermined method. So let's summarize. I thought is both its own background, pure media consciousness, which we started at the beginning of the phenomenology of spirit and its own development in this background at the same time. This is this ablation. This is the mediation. Now. The here's the key thing. As this thought develops on its own through the science of logic, it reaches the absolute idea. And then it returns to its beginning of pure presupposition was being, so we have a circle. I know this is getting complicated, but just stay with me. Hey go comments on the circle. And the fact that we now have arrived at a method at the end of the science of logic. So just to back up. There's immediation between pure consciousness and the movement of thought itself. and this is pure knowledge. and this is what we arrive at at the end of the phenomenology. And this is where we start peer knowledge. At the beginning of the logic yet the. The peer knowledge must get rid of all, all determinations. It must pure purify itself to become pure being to start. The beginning of the logical process, which it undertakes in the science of logic. So hopefully that's somewhat clear. Now. But at the end of the logic, it comes back and returns. Back to the beginning. So we have a circle. Hey go comments in the circle. And the fact that we have now arrived at a method at the end of the science of logic, as I said, let me quote him, quote by virtue of the nature of the method, just indicated the science exhibits itself as a circle returning upon itself. The end being won back into the beginning. The simple ground by the mediation, the circle is more over a circle of circles. So then returning into the beginning, it is at the same time to beginning of a new member. Links or this chain or the individual sciences of logic, nature, and spirit, each of which has an antecedent and a successor or express more accurately. As only they had the same and indicates its successor. And it's conclusion and quote. So Hagle is saying that this developed circle leads back to the beginning. Now with a method. But this method was not there at the beginning. And I realized this is hard to get one's mind around. But we say there was a proton method in the beginning, that was the original sublimation of the ground of thought pure consciousness with the movement of thought itself was envisioned precept position was being. So this, this is what I'm saying, that there is a method. Uh, it is right here. It's no more than this. Okay. But, but then as we go through the logic, the, uh, the process develops itself. through dialectics through some ablation through where thought leads itself. With on any, any direction. And then as Hegel says, you end up with a method at the end. now. The circle that Hagle talks about. It's not a dead circle. It's w it's one. When it comes back to the beginning, it's, it's a new beginning. and each point in the circle, there's an antecedent and an indication of its successor. This is an indication only. So it means that the circle is not dead. It's it's alive. And it continues to move and continues to evolve. Hagle continues, emphasizing this point, quote. That's then logic too, in the absolute idea. Has withdrawn into the same simple unity, which its beginning is the pure immediacy of being that is reached through Mediation that is through the sublimation of mediation, the likeness corresponded to itself. But now it is also fulfilled being the notion that comprehends itself being as the concrete and so absolutely intensive totality. In conclusion. There remains only this to be said about this idea that in, in it first, the science of logic has grasp its own notion. This is the end of the science of logic. So the logic is a circle. It's the fulfillment of thought itself. It's thought knowing itself, it's thought. Grasping its own concept. Now. We know that the logic though is not the whole. Hagle system. His whole system includes. Logic nature and spirit in the circle, as he says, Now it's this immediacy, which has reached at the end of the logic that. It becomes necessary then that it must other itself into nature. Now it does this, not in a time sense that it wasn't a creation event. At least that's what I believe others may feel differently. Now I believe. it's logically prior, but it's, it's embedded. Within the entire system. Now. We choose the starting point in the circle, which is precept positionless as a result of sublimation of immediacy, and mediation. As we. As we discussed. And this is the dialectic. Of pure thought. And this, if, if you had to say, what is the method, this is what it is. Now. Where did this? Dialectic a thought. Come from well, the dialectic method is fully developed. but by the time we reached the end of the logic, So in a sense, the child is the father, so to speak. The end of the logic is the father of the beginning of the last week. This was the circle of life. So again, once more does Hagle, they have a method. No, because no method is presumed in the start. And also yes, because the start includes the salvation of thought itself from the ground of being. To the movement of thought. And with this ablation, it is able to become itself presupposition and then move through the entire logic. So there is a dialectical, so ablation of place at the beginning. And if Hagle is said to have a method, this is it. Now. Just a few words on ablation and dialectics. hago scholars, Stephen Holgate notes. That's ablation. W which I've called the driving wheel of the Hey galleon, dialectic or process. Isn't the imminent method of Hegel's philosophy. Let me quote him, quote. Alfie bung does not cast anything aside as the absolute imminent method of speculative philosophy. It carries everything along with it. What gets lost is the purity of the category. The idea that the category is purely and simply itself and nothing more. Hey good believes that every subsequent determination will simply preserve its predecessors as a moment of itself and quote. Again, off your. Boeing is the German word. Uh, which halal uses it's translated in English. So ablation. But it really needs to be studied as its own concept. So ablation is probably not a good translation. It means to both lift up and preserve. And we talked about this in detail. In episode 36. What this all means. So I encourage you. If you want more ablation to review that episode. We also did two episodes on Galean dialectics episode 11. The Agalia dialectic and episode 17, the galleon, dialectic, and reality. so again, I would encourage you to either read or listen to those, or if you haven't caught those yet, go back and listen, because I go into much more detail about that. About the galleon dialectic and those episodes. Now we've clearly shown how the movement thought is dialectical. Now by dialectical. I mean, then it envisions an abstract notion. Then it negates it by identifying its negation or othering it. And then through some ablation off your bone, it raises these two, these two notions. Into one concrete hole. Finding an identity and the difference between the two. Now halo speaks to this dialectical process in his introduction to the encyclopedia of the philosophical sciences, which by the way, is a great introductory read to Hagle. For those of you that are new to Hagan. Let me quote, Hagle. Cool. Dialectic is the very nature and essence of everything, the law of things in of the finite as a whole. Thus understood. The dialectical principle constitutes the life and soul of scientific progress. The dynamic, which alone gives imminent connection and necessity to the body of science and in a word is seen to constitute the real and true as opposed to the external exaltation above the finite and quote. And immediately after this, in the note, he says, quote, It is of the highest importance to ascertain and understand rightly the nature of dialectics, Wherever there is movement wherever there is life, wherever anything is carried into effect in the actual world. They're dialectic is at work. It's also the soul of all knowledge, which is truly scientific. And late in the same note, he knows the importance of dialectical thinking versus the common understanding of Istanbul. Quote. It's purpose is to study things in their own being and movement. And that's to demonstrate the final tude. Of their partial categories of understanding and quote. This is so important. When I keep saying that the right brain holistic reasoning is understanding things in their own being and then their own movement. Now. We've talked about, Vostok versus Vernon shift. the understanding versus reasoning left brain versus right. Brain thinking. And, uh, we've talked about this in so many episodes, but it just keeps coming back. and it's so important to understand this, this difference. That Vernon dialectical reasoning puts itself in the thing that is thinking about, it's not seeing the separate. But as it is. And it sees identity in difference. And this is very important. It sees the holistic big picture. Hagle makes a big deal about this in his writing. Now, this is obviously before, They knew what was going on with the left brain and the right brain. But he, he certainly understood from his own thinking how these two different ways of, rationalizing and looking at the world operate. Now. We covered the left brain, right. Brain dichotomy in detail in episode 10. So again, please go back to that. If you, if you want more information in this. Now. He did sense this key difference between the common understanding, dividing things into smaller pieces, categorizing things. Finiteness and reason which is more holistic seeing an identity and the difference. So, this is a very important concept to understand Hagle. If you really need one, understand halal, you've got to understand this difference. Now. As you probably. Gathered, there's a certain triadic theme here to the dialectical method. But it's important to point out that the triad or the triangle is not the method. We discussed in the last episode. Charles Pierce and, I'm freedom, randomness and Hagle, how he puts firstness secondness and thirdness is fundamental to the cosmos. Now Hagle does not quite make this clear of a statement. Uh, first and second, and thirdness. However he does put his dialectic front and center as we've seen. And in some ways it is very similar to Pierce's first NUS. Second is thirdness and obviously Pierce had the benefit of coming after Hagle and benefiting from halos thinking. The key point though, again, is that, Hey, go follows reasons, dialectical process, where it leads and he does not try to lead it. down a path from the outside. Now. We've talked about Hegel's entire system. The logic, nature and spirit and handled mentions. This is a circle, but I believe, as I said, it's more like a Russian doll where they are embedded in each other. They're all, they're all existing. and what we experienced here is spirit within nature. evolving, becoming more rational, becoming freer. through us as individuals. I do not believe that the logic once existed on its own and then freely created nature in a creation event. I don't, I don't believe that others may, I don't. I do believe that logic is rationally prior to nature. It's, uh, it's the basis of nature, but it's not separate. And his spirit, the third part that's ablates these two worlds into one. And this ablation is a process that we are all part of. This is history. This is the historical movement of Geist, spirit, mind within the world for greater freedom and greater rationality and greater reality. From potential rationality to greater and greater embedded rationality within the world. From less of an understanding of the truly infinite to a greater understanding of the truly infinite and its relation to the finite. Of course. Acute all this is what does it mean for us? And I think it means a lot. We should not think of ourselves as entirely separate beings as the left brain would have us do. We're all individuals. Yeah, we're also part of humanity. We should not accept the given finite circumstances of our life. We should dream. We should plan. We should take action to make things better. And making things better for ourselves always involves making things better for others as well in the long run. So by striving for a better life, a better way, we're contributing to the evolution of humanity here on planet earth. Now it's important that we all recognize that we're part of a culture, a part of a heritage nation. But we also must look past this, to our shared humanity and see ourselves as citizens of the world. Identity politics or whatever you want to call it, us versus them. Let's not assume us take us over. Yes, we have an identity. I'm not denying that. But we don't want to be overtaken by it negatively. In terms of othering, those that are different from ourselves. Now it's obvious not everybody's gonna agree on everything. And the world is just too big. And if there were ever the case, then thinking would stop. Someone said, if everyone agrees, then no one is thinking. I believe in that. for example, there are those that believe Hegel's philosophy is worthless in this day and age in there. Of course, those that think he's the greatest philosopher ever and many in between. Now. We should not hate those that hold different views. All we can do is express ourselves rationally, peacefully, and yes, lovingly in terms of what we believe in how we think. So. That's a wrap for this episode. Thank you so much. Once again, for listening. Please like rate and review this podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to tell your like-minded friends about it. And please feel free to share any of these episodes on social media. most of the podcast applications allow you to do this. And if you're not already a member of the Hagle study group on Facebook, please check us out. And as always all references cited here will be posted on the podcast Facebook page at cutting of Geist. So this is Gregory Nowak. This is the cunning of Geist. See you next time.