Hegel's Phenemenology of Spirit:
161.
ARGUMENT:
we see that through infinity law completes itself into an immanent necessity - and all
the moments of the world of appearance are taken up into the inner world
that the simple character of law is infinity means - (a) that it is self-identical but is also
in itself different - (b) what is thus dirumpted - which constitutes the parts thought of
as in law - exhibits itself in a stable existence - and if the parts are considered without
the Notion of the inner difference - then space and time - or distance and velocity -
which appear as moments of gravity are just as indifferent and without a necessary
relation to one another as to gravity itself - (c) through the notion of inner difference -
these unlike and indifferent moments or space and time are a difference which is no
difference - or only a difference of what is selfsame and its essence is unity - as a
positive and negative they stimulate each other into activity and their being is rather to
posit themselves as not being and to suspend themselves in the unity - the two
distinguished moments both subsist - they are implicit and opposites in themselves
COMMENTARY:
the way I see it is like this -
the world we experience - the world of appearance is the first moment of awareness
reflection - which is an act or operation of consciousness divides the unity of
appearance into consciousness and non-consciousness
and so we understand appearance as the relation of consciousness and non-
consciousness -
the world as given - the world of appearance is initially unknown
the division of consciousness and non-consciousness - becomes for us the existential
reality and the analytical reality -
this is the second moment of awareness
and so we can say that the operational reality is a divided reality - in the sense that we
recognize that the unity has for us a conscious and non-conscious aspect
the understanding is that we can deal with the unity in terms of the relation of its
aspects
the world in the first moment prior to the reflection that gives us the awareness of the
conscious and non-conscious aspects is not a blank - but it is unknown
what is given in this first moment is analyzed in the second - so that what appears is
given characterization in consciousness
this is the beginning of the reflective process that gives us operational power
this power is the power of knowledge
this knowledge though is based on the unknown - it is consciousness' reflective
response to the unknown - and therefore it has no foundation other than operation
and the truth is we operate in mystery - in the sense that why the world just is the
way it is for us is never a matter we have - 'knowledge' of - but this understanding
actually makes no difference to how we deal with what we have to deal with
so for operational purposes the world of appearance - becomes that which is external
to consciousness
the inner world the world of thought is the resource we have to determine how to
proceed outside of thought
Hegel has it that all the moments of appearance are taken up into the inner world -
that which is outside of consciousness and is placed in the focus of a consciousness is
the world of appearance for that consciousness -
what this is for that consciousness is in the first place given in the very relation of
consciousness and the non-conscious - but what this means is always a reflective
possibility of the individual consciousness - and what it in fact means is shown in how
the person operates - which is just thought translated into action
it is not possible to ascertain the full meaning of any action - it is here that we are
faced with infinity - what in fact happens is we decide - that is cut-off the process and
determine - and in so doing we posit the finite - we make our actions and the world of
our action finite
infinity is the reality of the absence of knowledge
decision is the world made finite
