Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit:
114.
ARGUMENT:
if the many determinate properties were strictly indifferent to one another - if the were
simply and solely related - they would not be determinate
for they are only determinate in so far as they differentiate themselves from one
another - and relate themselves to others as their opposites
yet thus opposed to one another they cannot be together in the simple unity of their
medium - which is just as essential to them as negation
the differentiation of the properties in so far as it is not an indifferent differentiation
but is exclusive - each property negating the others - falls outside the simple medium
therefore it is not merely an also - an indifferent unity - but a one as well - a unity which
excludes another
the one is the moment of negation - it is a relation of self to self - and it excludes
another - and it is that by which thinghood is determined as a thing
negation is inherent in a property as a determinateness - which is immediately one
with the immediacy of being - which is universality
as one however this determinateness is set free from this unity with its opposite - and
exists in and for itself
COMMENTARY:
how is that the one contains or is a plurality?
if so - what sense of referring to it as 'one'?
and yet - is not a plurality - many of the one?
if so what sense of referring to the 'plurality'?
we can of course take Hegel's road here - and say there is a contradiction at the heart
of being
this is an option - and it makes sense on the face of it
the other option I see is that we say the fact of the contradiction shows us that we
cannot go there
and where is there?
if we assert being is one - or if we assert being is many - or indeed that being is one
and many - we are making the claim that we can know the nature of being - the nature
of existence
that we can give it a formal characterization - and that we can assert this claim as a
true claim
in my view the fact that we can put forward contradictory metaphysical arguments that
ultimately end in contradiction - shows us that we cannot know the essence of things -
the nature of reality
a way of putting it is to say reality - itself - resists such a claim - and furthermore
denies it - throws it back at us as nonsense -
the trick I think is to see that concepts such as the one - or the many e.g. - are
strategies for dealing with the unknown
and by dealing with the unknown I mean in practice - we need certain ideas and
categories for organization and operation
understanding a contingency in terms of the idea of unity can in certain circumstances
be useful and productive
perhaps given different circumstances - different players different goals - the idea of
plurality may prove to be more useful - more productive
there is no guide to what tools to use - what tools to make - or what results can be
expected -
ultimately the solution to any problem of action is a shot in the dark
how we conceive the problem - how we conceive the solution - when and how we
decide to stop or to go on - is finally a matter without knowledge
Hegel's analysis goes awry in my view just because of his use of logic
the concepts of negation and contradiction are properly used in the assessment of
propositions - that is descriptions of reality
my point being - reality does not negate - the world does not contradict itself -
negation is an operation on a proposition - it is an operation of denial - 'it is not the
case that......'
the negation of a proposition is the assertion that the proposition does not apply to the
circumstances under consideration -
it is the assertion that given the way the world is the proposition has no function
a contradiction likewise is a propositional operation or outcome that shows the
proposition that contains a contradiction has no function
negation is an operation on propositions - it is not an assertion that reality contains
negativity - or in the case of contradiction that the world asserts and denies itself -
all our propositions are attempts to provide some basis for action - logic is a means of
determining the functionality of such propositions
reality as such - is not affected one way or another by our propositions
our propositions nevertheless can have function
