/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.15749306]

Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit Part 10
Previous threads >>15734890
Duality of Spirit

>Only this self-restoring Sameness, or this reflection in otherness within itself
>- not an original or immediate unity as such - is the True.
Hegel is saying that the only real contemplation we can have of God is when we hook up to the Absolute ('otherness within itself'), or God as the Subject and creation as predicate. And the way in which we go about this contemplation is via understanding (pure categories of understanding). Thus we have a very simplistic outline of Hegel's Phenomenology, and the rest of the preface (and the rest of the book) is essentially the next stage in the process of hooking up to the Absolute, or in other words, we embark yet again on our journey to 'see God in everything.' Not that any one created thing is God, but how to grow our status as God's image to 'see' or 'read' with consciousness the various created things here on our little home called Earth similar to how God 'sees' or 'reads' the creation.
>It is the process of its own becoming,
>the circle that presupposes its end as its goal,
>having its end also as its beginning;
>and only by being worked out to its end, is it actual.
Hegel is saying that this process of 'seeing how to see similar to how God sees' is how we go about spiritual development. When we develop ourselves spiritually, we naturally reach goals, but these goals are not just ends. They are fresh beginnings as each are a layer of the foundation upon which we can begin to heal ourselves and eventually Earth itself. And then go ever further beyond.

A fresh beginning is, itself, similar to a miniature (or personal) birth-time for an individual in which the individual receives a new method of understanding by which the universe is revealed. For instance, when a young person first learns mathematics, a new world of mathematics is revealed. And when the young person develops, they learn new forms of mathematics such as Algebra and Geometry. The same kind of development occurs when we develop spiritually. As we develop, we grow stronger because the development essentially unlocks the barriers which prevent Spiritual nourishment from 'being absorbed by our roots', or in other words it allows us to participate in the world in new, interesting, and personally fulfilling ways. And eventually this, itself, will translate into healthy growth.

[Anonymous No.15749339]

>Thus the life of God and divine cognition may well be spoken of
>as a disporting of Love with itself;
>but this idea sinks into mere edification, and even insipidity,
>if it lacks the seriousness, the suffering, the patience, and the labour of the negative.
Hegel says that God is life AND cognition, a divine cognition, but these are not isolated from one another. They connect 'as a disporting of Love with itself', like a healthy (loving and wholesome) relationship (for instance, a tree's roots and leaves). But Hegel notices that one may think this indicates insipidity or mere edification (aka brainless hedonism or boredom). It cannot just take into account the positive, but it must take into account the negative as well. For the negative and the positive grow (dance or synthesize) together. If the negative is thought of as negation, then growth (dancing or synthesis) cannot occur. (Well technically dancing can occur with only one person, but the analogy implies that if the negative is thought of as negation then dancing canNOT occur.)
>In itself, that life is indeed one of untroubled equality and unity with itself,
>for which otherness and alienation, and the overcoming of alienation,
>are not serious matters.
Hegel is saying that a life of "untroubled equality and unity with itself, for which otherness and alienation, and the overcoming of alienation, are not serious matters." In other words if you try to hook up to a 'nourishment hydrant' (untroubled equality aka brainless hedonism) (nourishment implies health, but if 'nourishment' is being pumped at you like a fire hydrant blasting a garden hose, then nourishment is not happening.) with no overcoming of alienation (aka growing), we cannot expect to take this seriously. Why can we not expect to take this seriously? Because life grows, and trying to hook yourself up to a 'nourishment hydrant' instead of the Absolute and receiving Spiritual nourishment only fosters deserts, not gardens.

[Anonymous No.15749342]

>>15749306
Hegel is unimportant and a waste of time.

https://paulcockshott.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/please-waste-no-time-on-hegel/

[Anonymous No.15749352]

>>15749342
No one cares about a communist's opinion.

[Anonymous No.15749421]

>But this in-itself is abstract universality,
>in which the nature of the divine life to be for itself,
>and so too the self-movement of the form,
>are altogether left out of account.
Thinking that you can receive Spiritual nourishment from something abstract or 'abstract universality' (for instance A=A) is like thinking you can plug a garden hose into empty space. In other words, if you try to plug your side of the connection (bi-furcations) into the idea of A=A (or a conception of any of the bi-furcations) then you are not receiving Spiritual nourishment, because you are trying to plug your garden hose into empty space (A rose is a rose. A cow is a cow. Grass is grass. Ugh, I'm bored.)

Our side of the connection is the bi-furcations which were earlier explained. However, there is little point in trying to receive Spiritual nourishment from looking at the bi-furcations on a piece of paper, just like there is little point in thinking a triangle on a piece of paper can be used to support a bridge. A bridge is supported by triangles, but the triangles are in a proper form which can provide 'nourishment' to a bridge. Obviously a bridge is not a living thing, however the bridge becomes meaningful via triangle formations which consist of certain objects (for instance, steel). This is, essentially, plugging triangles into a bridge. Similarly, one can plug the bi-furcations into the Absolute and, via this process, further develop your spiritual understanding of the world in order to receive Spiritual nourishment.

[Anonymous No.15749431]

>If the form is declared to be the same as the essence,
>then it is ipso, facto a mistake to suppose
>that cognition can be satisfied with the in-itself or the essence,
>but can get along without the form
>-that the absolute principle or absolute intuition makes the working-
>out of the former, or the development of the latter, superfluous.
If we mistake the Absolute for the 'nourishment hydrant' (untroubled equality) or empty space (A=A or A!=-A boredom) and keep trying to plug our side of the connection into these other 'outlets', then "it is...a mistake to suppose that cognition can be satisfied with the in-itself". In other words, we won't receive Spiritual nourishment.

Another way to think of it is like this. If a plant receives no water, it dies. If a plant is constantly in water, it dies. If a plant occasionally gets water (for instance, disco the switch once per day) then the plant can properly absorb the water (be nourished) and grow. Likewise, if a tree has no roots, the trunk and leaves cannot be nourished. If the the tree has no trunk and leaves, then the roots cannot be nourished. A plant's relationship with water is similar to a trunk/leaves' relationship with roots. One more analogy. Look into the sun, and you will become blind. Close your eyes, and you will become blind. Look at the world and the sky, and you will see. This helps in understanding how Spiritual nourishment works.

[Anonymous No.15749493]

>>15749306
That video by school of life misrepresents Hegel. Its like they only went off second or third hand sources

[Anonymous No.15749557]

>>15749342
He's literally the most influential philosopher of the past 200 years

[Anonymous No.15749583]

>>15749493
That video says a lot of right things, but saying right things about a car doesn't make a person a car-driver. Similarly watching an ad about food doesn't fill your stomach. The 'School of Life' youtube channel is more like the 'Commercial Break of Life'. lol