Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit:
109.
ARGUMENT:
the dialectic of sense-certainty - is the history of its movement - of its experience - and
sense-certainty nothing but this history
this is why natural consciousness is always learning what is true - but equally it is
always forgetting and starting the movement all over again
it is therefore astonishing that the reality or being of external things taken as This or as
sense objects has absolute truth for consciousness
to say this is to say what one does not want to say
the truth for consciousness of a This of sense is supposed to be universal experience -
but the very opposite is universal experience
every consciousness supersedes such a truth e.g. Here is a tree proclaims the opposite
- Here is not a tree
what consciousness will learn from experience in all sense certainty is only that we
have seen the This as a universal
those who assert the truth of sensuous things should go back to the drawing board
you will come not just to doubt the being of sensuous things - but despair of it
we bring about the nothingness of such things in our dealings with them - and we see
them reduce themselves to nothingness
i.e. an animal will not regard such things as having intrinsic being - but assured of
their nothingness will eat them
all Nature like all animals celebrates the open Mysteries - which teach the truth about
sensuous things
COMMENTARY:
what happens to us - what we call experience is just the immediate awareness of the
unknown and the reflective response to that
how we conceive what we are presented with - is how we know it
much of this conceptual response is given in the frameworks consciousness brings to
bear independently of the experience - i.e. the frameworks of space and time - cause
and effect the idea of substance
and biological historical psychological and social contexts bear on any immediacy
our conceptual action in relation to immediacy - is our experience
how we describe this experience will have to do with the meta frameworks and the
contingent contexts we operate in - and every such event will even with these
surroundings have the potential of novelty - new knowledge - new discoveries
and in reality any description of this 'experience' will be no more than a valiant
attempt to come to grips with everything
as such of course it will fail -
and the reason for this is that consciousness though it can reflect upon itself - its
'contents' - can never grasp itself - can never contain itself -
any reflection is just a light into the darkness -
and really what this shows - illuminates is not what is in the light but rather the extent
of the darkness
we have experience and yes it is a multi-faceted affair - but it can never be determined
experience - my experience - even that experience had - is never closed
experience is by its nature an open proposition
immediacy disappears on reflection - or should I say the force of it
as soon as you reflect on what has happened you understand it in a broader context -
you know that to understand it cannot be left as an isolated event
you soon realize - without thinking that there is no such thing
all that really happens is that from your position in space time and given the nature of
your consciousness and body - you take one of the infinite paths possible to
consideration of the nature of reality as a whole
in practice we rarely engage - at least purposely in the grand metaphysical
consideration - but that is just because our circumstances generally confine us closer
to the dirt - however the path is there and it is just a matter of how far you go and why
I think it is true that in immediacy we do witness essence - or should I say essence
impresses itself upon us
and this is not a bad thing - for perhaps without this constant reminder of the unknown
and its power - we could easily get lost in and retreat into our conceptions
the point of consciousness is to give character to the unknown
it is fair to say consciousness is just a function of certain organisms - and of no
significance to the unknown it is the reflection of
as I have argued before - there is no certainty in sense - there is only the event of it -
what we make of it is a question - the proposal to regard experience as certain - is a
proposal that only is possible given the intrinsic uncertainty of the phenomena
sensuous things - the objects of sense experience - are utilized - this is what
consciousness enables - the utility of the objects of sense -
how men use objects - what they use them for - what they do to them - what the
results are - etc. etc. - is the history of human action
as to the end of any of this - the purpose - the goal - there are as many answers as there
are actions
in my view - events - any a kind of event - the falling of rain - the making of a box -
the act of love - the act of war etc. etc. are just happenings - acts - events
and they have no significance in themselves -
significance - meaning - is a gift - a gift of consciousness
and as to consciousness - its only meaning is in the giving -
outside of this it has no significance -
thus a consciousness that does not function - does not exist
the open mystery is a good - very good description of reality as unknown -
and yes - in a poetic sense - all nature celebrates - points to the open mystery
