Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit:
164.
ARGUMENT:
infinity becomes the object of the Understanding - but the Understanding falls short of
infinity as such - since it apportions to two worlds - that which is a difference in itself
- the self-repulsion of the selfsame and the self-attraction of the unlike
to the Understanding the movement as it is found in experience is a mere happening -
and the selfsame and the unlike are predicates whose essence is an inert substrate
what is for the Understanding an object in a sensuous covering - is for us a pure
Notion
the exposition of its Notion belongs to science - consciousness immediately has this
Notion - and the notion comes onto the scene as a form belonging to consciousness
itself - or as a new shape of consciousness
since this object of infinity is an object for consciousness - the latter is consciousness
of a difference that is no less immediately canceled
consciousness is for its own self - it is a distinguishing of that which contains no
difference - or self-consciousness
I distinguish myself from myself - and in doing so I am directly aware that what is
distinguished from myself is not different from me
I - the selfsame being repel myself from myself - but what is posited as distinct from
me or as unlike me - is immediately in being so distinguished - not a distinction for
me
it is true that consciousness of an 'other' - of an object in general - is itself necessarily
self-consciousness - a reflectedness-into-self - consciousness of itself - in its otherness
the necessary advance from the previous shapes of consciousness for which their truth
was a Thing - an 'other' than themselves - expresses just this - that not only is
consciousness of a thing possible only for a self-consciousness - but that self-
consciousness alone is the truth of those shapes
but it is only for us that this truth exists - not yet for consciousness
but self-consciousness has become simply for itself - not yet as a unity with
consciousness in general
COMMENTARY:
infinity in the sense of a conception of the endless or the boundless is a pseudo
conception in that a concept is a concept because it is bound or defined - that is if this
infinity makes some kind of existential sense - it cannot be conceived - what you have
here is the mistake that the non-concept refers or signifies - an example of the general
logical error that the negative refers - or is a sign of a kind of reality - when in fact all
the negative is - is a sign of decision - the decision not to proceed -
beyond what is conceived - is relative to the conception - that which is not known -
this is the best that can be made of this 'infinity theory'
the 'mere happening' Hegel refers to is just a description of the fact of consciousness
facing the unknown - this unknown or 'mere happening' is the object of consciousness
- it is just what consciousness must and does make something of
the 'object in a sensuous covering' is the world of appearance - that is the relation of
consciousness and the non-conscious - the ground which consciousness reflectively
interprets - for us it is a pure notion in the sense that it is the unknown - this is its
'purity' - if you want to go down the poetic track
science is indeed a tool for the exposition of the world of appearance as it is given as
an unknown - and yes consciousness immediately has this notion - it is what is given
to consciousness - just in the act of consciousness' relation to the non-conscious - and
yes the notion as any notion does belong to consciousness - the notion is a creation of
consciousness - and notions do give consciousness a characterization - but in so far as
consciousness is a dimension - the internal dimension - what you will have is the play
of shapes within this space
Hegel defines self-consciousness as that which contains no difference - all this
amounts to is the idea that self-consciousness is a unity - which in my terms is to say
it is the internal dimension of a thing -
now I happen to think that all consciousness is self consciousness - and that therefore
any distinction between consciousness and non-consciousness is a false distinction -
but for Hegel consciousness is not self-consciousness - self-consciousness is some
kind of development of consciousness
therefore to say that self-consciousness is that with no difference - is really to say
nothing -
we have no theory of self-consciousness from Hegel
he says I distinguish myself from myself - this makes no sense - there is no proper use
of logic here - that which is may be distinguished from that which is not - that which is
therefore outside of itself - consciousness may distinguish that which it is not i.e. - the
external world - but 'itself' - is not - external to consciousness
his idea that I repel myself from myself suggests the beginning of some kind of theory
of how consciousness can create 'itself' - strange as this idea might be - but this line of
inquiry ends quickly with the realization that any such distinction is 'not a distinction
for me'
but the real kicker comes next - the argument that the 'other' is itself necessarily self-
consciousness
as they say you can run but you can't hide - and this is the position Hegel is in - he has
no where to go -
his failure to understand that consciousness / self-consciousness is internality - and
that its object is externality - his failure that is to recognize and or establish the
external world - as external - has left him only with consciousness - we cannot even
say - 'the internal' - for Hegel does not understand that the essence of consciousness is
internality - therefore his 'consciousness' - is nothing - literally nothing - the term has
no meaning as a result of his deliberations -
he can't even retreat into solipsism - there is literally nowhere to go - for to this point
he hasn't managed to establish the self - let alone the self as everything
what you have from Hegel is like an archeological expedition that covers all the
ground and uses every tool available - and even makes a number of new tools -
but in the end after all the blood and sweat - all the high hopes and grand endeavours -
finds nothing -
and leaves nothing but a hole where once there was a serene landscape
