Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit:
145.
ARGUMENT:
the object now has the extremes of the inner being of Things and the Understanding
and appearance as the middle term
the Understanding sees the inner world through the middle term and it learns about the
close linked unity of these terms
COMMENTARY:
the object has no inner being or understanding
inner being is consciousness
understanding is consciousness operating with and on the object which in itself is
unknown
yes appearance is the middle term - it is the basic relation of consciousness to its
object
the understanding is reflection on this - on this relation
consciousness - the understanding recognizes itself as internality and it recognizes
what it is not - that which is external to it
it operates reflectively with the relation given between itself and the external world
appearance is this relation
'knowledge' is reflection on this relation
NB:
consciousness expresses itself
the non-conscious does not express - there is no self to express
the expression is a function of consciousness' searching for foundation
the foundation does not exist - this fact does not alter the rationale of consciousness
the outside world is the means of consciousness' expression
the immediate outside - the body - is consciousness means of expression
the body enables consciousness to function
the body is consciousness' mechanism
consciousness is the internal dimension of a two dimensional entity
the two dimensional function
the body - the external dimension
the unity that is the action - can only be comprehended in terms of its expression
the unity - in itself - the person - is unknown
