Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit:
149.
ARGUMENT:
the absolute flux of appearance becomes a simple difference through its relation with
the simplicity of the inner world - or the understanding
the inner being is an outcome of the flux or the flux is its essence
but it is a flux that is posited in the inner world as its truth
in other words negation is an essential moment of the universal - and negation is a
universal difference
this difference is expressed in the law - which is the stable image of unstable
appearance
consequently the supersensible world is an inert realm of ideas which though beyond
the perceived world - for this exhibits law only through incessant change - is equally
present in it and is its direct tranquil image
COMMENTARY:
consciousness is the inner world - the inner world is the internal dimension - its
characteristic is awareness
the relation between consciousness and the non-conscious - between the internal and
the external - is the unity of these two dimensions - this unity is appearance
the characteristic of appearance is uncertainty
this uncertainty is reflected in consciousness and in the external world
uncertainty is the essence of awareness
the inner dimension therefore is not an outcome of appearance - of the uncertainty
in a metaphysical sense it exists prior to appearance -
appearance though is what consciousness deals with
the uncertainty of appearance becomes the ground of consciousness - it becomes the
basis of consciousness
the positing of this uncertainty is consciousness' reflection on appearance
assertion and negation are the operational actions of uncertainty
law is the denial of uncertainty
law is not first and foremost a stable image - it is rather the expression of the decision
to act in the face of uncertainty
action is the denial of uncertainty
law is a reflective description of the ground for such action
any such ground is to be true - groundless - however we propose it as if it has
foundation
the assertion of law is purely pragmatic -
it is finally based only on the need to act and to act in a 'rational' fashion - which is to
say an ordered fashion
the tranquil image of law is a ruse
