Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit:
112.
ARGUMENT:
since the principle of the object is in its simplicity a mediated universal - the object
must express this nature in its own self
this it does by showing itself to be the thing with many properties
the wealth of sense knowledge belongs to perception - not to immediate certainty - for
which it was only the source of instances -
for only perception contains negation - that is difference or manifoldness within its
own essence
COMMENTARY:
in truth can we speak of the object itself - outside of its perception?
outside of perception what you have is that which does not appear - that which is not
known
that which does not appear - that which is not known is the point of perception
that is the point outside of perception - that perception is directed to
it is this point that is the object independently of its characteristics
the characteristics of the object come into being through the relationship of perception
that is as a result of the act of perception on its point of focus
the fact of this event is the revelation of perception
as a result of this event we refer to the object as object -
that is a point of focus that has primary and secondary properties
the object is not manufactured by consciousness
it exists independently of consciousness (as an unknown) but the event of perception
reveals a definite relationship between consciousness and its point of focus which is
the object characterized - the object as a known
I say consciousness characterizes its point of focus - this is just what it does
we never perceive the object as just a point of focus - always as a revelation to
consciousness
nevertheless we can say that in the moment of perception - we only know what is
before us in terms of how it is described - though we describe as a matter of reflex -
logically speaking the description is still a reflective act - after immediacy
so perhaps you could say we perceive the object initially as unknown and known
and if this is so it suggests we perceive the object as it is and as its is perceived -
as it appears and as it does not appear -
if this is so - you have always a logically complete picture of the object
also I wish to say perception is specific
description may not be - but perception is
perception is focus
so - the object is that which is focused on -
perception defines the object - as focus
the characteristics of this focus as revealed in perception are the common reality of the
perception and the object - the common reality - the object perceived -
that is the event - the singular event - of the object perceived
NB.
what perception reveals is the known and the unknown dimensions of the object of
perception
that is as well as what is given in the act of perception - we are as conscious entities
aware of what is not given - what is not known
the known always comes to us in the greater context of the unknown - what is not
revealed -
the awareness of what is not known is the intrigue of the object -
it as an awareness that has two aspects -
firstly what is not revealed
and secondly - the origin - the basis - the foundation of what is revealed
what the reality of the unknown introduces into the world is possibility
