Hegel: Phenomenology of Spirit:
92.
ARGUMENT:
pure being constitutes the essence of sense certainty
actual sense certainty is not merely this pure immediacy but an instance of it
in sense certainty pure being splits up into the two 'Thises' - the 'I' and the object
when we reflect we see that neither are only immediately present in sense certainty -
but each is mediated - I have this certainty through the thing - and the thing is in sense
certainty through the 'I'
COMMENTARY:
pure being - OK - so what would count as impure?
this is not a frivolous question -
I would suggest that anything that exists is pure being
Hegel thinks by the adjective 'pure' - he can slip in 'certainty'
(what is not certain is not pure being?)
at the very least certainty is a conception - an epistemological conception - that is a
construction of consciousness
designed to deal with the issue of the nature of knowledge
a tree in a field is neither certain or uncertain
it does not posses epistemological attributes
pure being is what in a logical sense? - that to be described
this is the best I can make of it
bearing in mind that the idea of any entity as an object of consciousness without any
description - is just a logical fantasy
the question of appropriate description is though quite real
Hegel wants also to say the sense certainty is an instance of pure being
well this I can agree with
but not for the same reasons Hegel would advance
rather because any phenomena is an instance of what Hegel calls pure being
i.e. anything that exists - exists
he goes on to argue that in sense certainty pure being splits into two -
the 'I' and the object -
consciousness and its object
or as I would put it - the world - reality - 'pure being' - given the existence of
consciousness - is best understood as two dimensional
consciousness brings internality to the world
that outside of consciousness - the 'outside world' - is externality
understood this way - the relation between the conscious and the non-conscious
is dimensional
both are dimensions of the one reality
I put that we only understand reality as such in terms of these two dimensions
but enough about me
back to Hegel -
he is trying to explain or account for certainty -
and he says that the I has its certainty through the object
and further that the object is - in sense certainty because of the I
firstly - the I having certainty through the object -
awareness is a state - a relational state
it is a relation between the I and the object
'the' relation in fact -
it is no more than a simple fact - what Hegel calls pure being
are we to say this is certainty?
if so it is an empty fact
for all the questions that come with awareness - are contained in the relation of the I
and the object
and strictly speaking the relation itself can be in question - as it is in the case of
illusion - delusion or even dream states
certainty if the concept makes any sense is a reflective / epistemological notion
it is not what is experienced
what is experienced is prior to reflection - unknown
as to the second part here - the object is in sense certainty because of the I -
yes - but this is just to say the object becomes an object of awareness
an object of consciousness
this really is a contingency - a happening
there is no certainty in the relation
the relation of I and object is a relation of possibility
and I would say the experience of the relation is not certainty
the experience demands definition and explanation
and is thus the experience of uncertainty
