2. Hegel’s Logic

Characteristics of Hegel’s Logic

The characteristics of Hegel’s logic are that it is not a theory about the laws and forms of thought, but rather it is a theory about the laws and forms of the development of thought. Furthermore, his theory is not about human thought, but about God’s thought. Accordingly, Hegel’s logic is the study of those laws and forms with which God’s thinking developed. God’s thinking developed from thinking about Himself to thinking about nature, and then to thinking about history and the state, and finally into thinking about art, religion and philosophy. The laws and forms concerning the development of such thinking are characteristics of Hegel’s logic.

As Hegel himself stated, his logic treats the development of God’s thinking prior to His creation of the world, and it is thus “heavenly logic,” or a description of “God as He is in His eternal essence before the creation.” ² However, unlike formal logic, it does not deal merely with the formal laws of thought. Although it holds itself forth to be the development of God’s thinking, it attempts to deal also with the most universal definitions and laws of the real world.

Outline of Hegel’s Logic

Hegel’s logic consists of three branches, namely, the Doctrine of Being, the Doctrine of Essence, and the Doctrine of Notion. These three branches are each subdivided, such that the Doctrine of Being consists of Quality, Quantity, and Measure; the Doctrine of Essence consists of Essence, Appearance, and Actuality; and the Doctrine of Notion consists of Subjective Notion, Objective Notion and Idea, and these are each further subdivided. For example, Quality in the Doctrine of Being consists of Being, Determinate Being, and Being-for-Itself; and Being further consists of Being, Nothing, and Becoming.

The starting point for the development of Hegel’s logic is the dialectic of Being, Nothing, and Becoming. After passing through these three stages, Being moves on to Determinate Being. This Determinate Being has three further stages, and after passing through these, the Determinate Being moves on to Being-for-self. Being-for-self has three additional stages, and when they are passed through, it moves on to Quantity. Quantity moves on to Measure by passing through its own three stages, and when Measure has passed through its three stages, the theory concerning Being comes to an end.

Next is the theory concerning Essence. Hegel’s logic moves from Essence to Appearance and from Appearance to Actuality. Then comes the theory concerning Notion. Notion moves from Subjective Notion to Objective Notion and from Objective Notion to Idea. Within Idea, there are three stages, namely, Life, Cognition, and Absolute Idea. Absolute Idea is the final destination in the development within logic.

Then the world of logic or the world of Idea negates itself, in order to realize itself truly, and moves on to the realm of Nature. According to Hegel, Idea moves on to become external to itself, in other words, Nature is the self-alienation of Idea, the negative of Idea, and Idea in the form of otherness. There are three stages of Mechanics, Physics and Organics in the realm of Nature. Further, Idea, which externalizes itself by negating itself, returns to its original self by further negating the negation. Idea as having recovered itself through human being is Spirit. Spirit passes through the three stages of Subjective Spirit, Objective Spirit, and Absolute Spirit. Absolute Spirit stands at the highest point in the development of Spirit. Absolute Spirit develops itself by passing through the three stages of Art, Religion, and Philosophy. The above description of Hegel’s system can be illustrated in the following diagram (see fig. 10.8).

The Dialectic of Being, Nothing, and Becoming

Hegel’s logic, starting with Being, deals with the process of reaching the Absolute Idea. Being is discussed in the Doctrine of Being, where he begins with the dialectic which consists of Being, Nothing, and Becoming. Hence, I will examine the dialectic of Being, Nothing, and Becoming, because this portion constitutes the core of Hegel’s logic.

Hegel’s logic starts with Being. ³ Being means simply that which exists, but this is the most abstract of all concepts, and is an entirely indeterminate, empty thought. Therefore, he says it is negative, namely, Nothing. For Hegel, Being and Nothing are both empty concepts, and there is little distinction between the two. ⁴ Next, Hegel says that the unity of Being and Nothing is Becoming. Both Being and Nothing are empty abstractions, but Becoming, which is the unity of the two opposites, is the first concrete thought. ⁵ With this logic of Being, Nothing, and Becoming as the basis, the logical developments of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis; and affirmation, negation, and negation of negation, etc., which are usually regarded as Hegel’s method, came to be established.

Determinate Being

Having examined Being, Nothing, and Becoming, we move on to the examination of the Determinate Being. Determinate Being is Being with a certain form, Being considered concretely. While Being means simply that which exists, Determinate Being means that which is something. Moving from Being, Nothing, and Becoming to Determinate Being, in short, means moving from the abstract to the concrete. Becoming is a contradiction containing Being and Nothing within itself, and through this contradiction, Becoming transcends itself to become Determinate Being.

In this way, Determinate Being is a definite Being, a qualified Being. This determinateness of Determinate Being was called Quality by Hegel. However, even though we may say determinate, what is considered here is simple determination.

The determination that makes Being a Determi-nate Being implies the affirmative content of something, and at the same time, it implies limitation. Therefore, the quality that makes something what it is, is reality, when seen from the affirmative aspect of something, and at the same time it is negation when seen from the aspect of not being another thing. Therefore, in Determinate Being, reality and negation, or affirmation and negation, are united. Next, Determinate Being proceeds to Being-for-self. Being-for-self refers to the Being that is neither in relationship to another thing, nor changing into another thing, but staying as itself in every way.

Being, Essence, and Notion

In the Doctrine of Being, starting from an analysis of what it is to exist, Hegel discussed the logic of change, or the logic of generation and disappearance. Next, the Doctrine of Being proceeds to the Doctrine of Essence. Here, the unchangeable aspect within things and the inter-connectedness among all things are discussed. Next, it proceeds to the Doctrine of the Notion as the unity of the Doctrine of Being and the Doctrine of Essence. Here, the fact that things do not cease to be themselves while changing into other beings―that is, self-development―is discussed. The driving force of this development is the notion and life.

Then, can one say that God’s thinking proceeded in the way of Being, Essence, and Notion? We can understand this if we watch the process of our cognition as we perceive things from the external to the internal, he says. In the case of perceiving a flower, for example, we first perceive the existence of the flower phenomenally. Next, we perceive the essence of the flower. Then, the notion of the flower is formed, in which the existence of the flower and the essence of the flower are united.

Logic, Nature, and Spirit

As mentioned before, according to Hegel, nature is Idea in the form of otherness, or Idea as self-alienated. Therefore, if Logic is made to be the thesis, then the philosophy of Nature becomes the antithesis. Next, Idea regains consciousness and freedom through the human being and becomes Spirit. Accordingly, the philosophy of Spirit becomes the syn-thesis.

The natural world, also, performs the dialectical development of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, that is, the three stages of Mechanics, Physics, and Organics. This does not mean, however, that nature itself develops, but rather, this is the process through which the Idea behind the natural world manifests itself. First, the concept of force appears; next, the concept of physical phenomena; and then, the concept of living beings, he says.

Finally, the human being appears, and the Spirit develops itself through humankind. This development takes place in the three stages of Subjective Spirit, Objective Spirit, and Absolute Spirit. Subjective Spirit refers to the spirit of the individual; Objective Spirit refers to the socialized spirit, or the objectified spirit transcending the individual.

Objective Spirit has the three stages of Law, Morality, and Ethics. Law refers not to something systematized like the constitution of a state, but to elementary forms in human relationships, like a group of people. Next, man comes to respect the rights of others and to lead a moral life. However, there are still many subjective aspects (individual aspects) there. Thus, ethics appears as the norms that everyone should communally observe.

The first stage in ethics is the family. In a family, members are linked with one another through love, and there is freedom there. However, in the second stage, namely, civil society, the interests of individuals conflict with one another, and freedom becomes restricted. Thus, in the third stage, the state, which integrates the family and civil society, appears. Hegel considered that Idea would manifest itself fully through the state. The state in which the Idea is actualized is the rational state. Human freedom will be fully actualized in that state.

Finally, there appears Absolute Spirit. Absolute Spirit manifests itself through the three stages of art, religion, and philosophy. When it comes to the stage of philosophy, Idea regains itself completely. The dialectical movement of Idea returns to the origin in this way. Nature appears; the human being appears; the state appears; art, religion, and philosophy appear; and finally Idea returns to the Absolute Idea (God). ⁶ By accomplishing this return, the entire process of development comes to an end ⁷ (see fig. 10.9).

Triadic Structure of Hegel’s Logic

As already explained, the beginning of Hegel’s dialectic is the triad (the three stage process) of Being, Nothing, and Becoming, which is the dialectical development of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis through contradiction. The triad process repeats several times, and these processes are combined to form the highest triad of Logic, Nature, and Spirit. The three stage process in Logic is Being, Essence, and Notion, and in the stage of Notion, God’s thought becomes the Idea (finally, the Absolute Idea). Passing through the stage of Logic, the Idea alienates itself and appears as Nature, and then, through humans, it appears as Subjective Spirit, Objective Spirit, and Absolute Spirit. Finally, it returns to itself, namely, the Absolute Idea, the starting point.

The philosophy of Nature and the philosophy of Spirit are not independent from logic in Hegel’s philosophy. Logic, which is the first stage of the triad, contains the philosophy of Nature and the philosophy of Spirit as prototypes.

As already explained, God’s thought becomes Idea in the stage of Notion in the triadic process of Being, Essence, and Notion. The Idea is the prototype of the philosophy of Nature and the philosophy of Spirit. In other words, it has the blueprint of the universe. Hence, the philosophy of Nature and the philosophy of Spirit are but the manifestations of the prototype within the Idea, in the same way as the moving pictures on a screen are the reflection of the pictures in a role of film. In other words, Hegel’s logic, which is the first stage of the triad, is the prototype of the philosophy of Nature and the philosophy of Spirit. Therefore, Hegel’s entire philosophical system is contained in his logic. The dialectic of Hegel, which deals with the development of God’s thinking, is usually called an idealistic dialectic.

The Circular Nature, Laws, and Forms in Hegel’s Dialectic

As already explained, Hegel’s dialectic is a returning and circular movement whereby the original stage is restored at a higher standard through the repetition of the three stages of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. This nature applies to the lower level triads as well as to the higher level triads. In addition to this, Hegel’s dialectic has a completing nature, since there is no more development when the Absolute Spirit has restored itself.

Let us briefly compare the laws and forms in Hegel’s logic with those of formal logic. The laws in formal logic are the law of identity, the law of contradiction, and so forth, and the forms are the forms of judgment, and the forms of inference. In contrast, the laws in Hegel’s logic are dialectical laws, such as the law of development through contradiction, the law of the transformation of quantity into quality, the law of negation of the negation, and so forth; the form is that of a dialectical development, namely, the three stages of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. A logic with such a form of development is called a dialectical logic.