Hegel's Penomenology of Spirit:
108.
ARGUMENT:
the Here pointed out is a this Here which in fact is not this Here etc.
what is pointed out is a negative
this which is negative only when the Heres are taken as they should be - in being so
taken they supersede themselves
what abides is a simple complex of many Heres
the Here that is meant is not a point but a movement through many Heres into the
universal Here
COMMENTARY:
the immediate cannot be described - what do we say of it - not that it does not exist -
rather that it is not known
such a view maintains the immediacy of the immediate - and the reality of its
unknowing
Hegel has missed this point - or simply refuses to acknowledge it -
my bet is that he just didn't see it
the idea of the unknown as the basis of knowledge - just too radical and simple a
notion for Hegel
be that as it may
the whole point of the immediate is its stillness - and yes we do recognize it as a point
any movement is conceptual - some way of understanding - of knowing the unknown
as I have suggested before - Hegel's ideas here are OK - in the sense that any serious
attempt to give form and content - to characterize the unknown is in itself valid -
but as such any such theory is secondary - that is it cannot be regarded as fundamental
and then of course there is the issue of the utility of the conception - just where and
how it functions
I guess you would have to say that Hegel has form here - the marks are on the board
Marxism at the very least is his legacy - in an inverted way
be careful what you wish for you might get it - upside down inside out
OK
nevertheless what we have from Hegel is philosophical fantasy
(and in principle as I have just said I am not against this)
but what he is doing at heart is completely and utterly denying the unknown - the
reality of the unknown
where this gets strange is that in his case it results in the identification of external
reality with actions of consciousness - with conception and a conceptual artifice of his
making
this is the problem - if you deny the reality of the unknown - you will invariably lose
perspective
you will end up thinking what you think must be how the world is
OK - from the point of view of action in the world - that is how you operate in the
moment
but fatal as a reflective view of the nature of things
