Hegel

Question 1

Consciousness v self-consciousness?

Answer 1

Consciousness is awareness of external things in general.
Self-consciousness is awareness of a specific thing in general: consciousness. Self-consciousness is consciousness that has consciousness as its object of knowledge.

Hegel argues that we are not born self-conscious and are forced to become such. We already have the capacity for it by nature, but the realization of the capacity is not automatic.

Question 2

How do we gain self-consciousness?

Answer 2

The way we originally gain this is by encountering another (self)consciousness to force our consciousness to make the reflective turn on itself. If we cannot recognize another self-consciousness we cannot be self-conscious because we clearly lack the comprehension of what a self-consciousness is and thus cannot recognize one.

Simply saying “I am I” is not self-consciousness. We show no comprehension of consciousness as a universal kind of being, we are merely taking ourselves as an immediate being and differentiating it from all other objects. It is not “I am I because I am not you.” It is simply a name term. “I am I,” but I do not understand what I am.

Question 3

What is dialectics?

Answer 3

Dialectics is the study of the unity of opposites.

Question 4

At what moment do we gain self-consciousness?

Answer 4

Self-consciousness is the moment when you’re capable of taking control of your desire. The master cannot do this.. At a certain point (the first moment of negation) the slave experiences its own autonomy, by producing things for the master without consuming them, so what you produce somehow survives you. The external object appears in the world with a mark of your work, because there is a moment of negation of your desire. You need distance from the object you’ve produced in order to achieve self-consciousness.

Question 5

Difference between Hegelian grasping and Locke’s first entitlement-

Answer 5

With Hegel, when you grasp something you submit it to your will, with Locke there’s no discussion of will. In Locke, the problem is how to recognise and protect entitlement to an object. For Hegel, there is additionally the objectification, which holds that the object is deprived of any will. For Hegel, only humans have any will. Nature is something completely external to itself and there is no consciousness there. Objects are born to be appropriated and to bear the mark of someone’s will. Property is a mediation for the recognition.

Question 6

What is property for Hegel

Answer 6

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