From the Aristotelian Principle of Non-Contradiction to Dialectics: The Genesis of the Absolute Idea in Hegel’s Logic
Subject Areas : Intellectual explorations
1 - PhD in Philosophy, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil
Keywords: Hegel, logic, Absolute Idea, categories, being, thought,
Abstract :
In Hegel’s philosophy, logic occupies a position that goes beyond a merely formal science; it is not only an instrument for organizing thought, but the constitutive foundation of his entire philosophical system. Unlike the Aristotelian tradition, which establishes logic on the basis of the principle of non-contradiction and formal rules, Hegel conceives it as an inner movement that reveals reality itself. In the Science of Logic, Hegel begins the path toward the Absolute Idea from “pure being,” where no determination exists and being and nothing merge into one another. From this unity, “becoming” emerges as the first moment of movement. Each category, along this path, negates itself internally and, by producing its own contradiction, necessarily leads to the emergence of the next category. This dialectical process is not merely a method of argumentation, but the very movement of thought, which, through inner mediations, advances toward the final unity. The Absolute Idea represents the culminating point of this movement: the moment in which thought and being, subject and object, form and content, achieve self-consciousness in an inner unity. Thus, for Hegel, logic is the very language of being; the structure through which reality recognizes itself.
This article seeks to show that understanding the place of logic within Hegel’s system is the key to understanding his philosophy. For only by realizing that truth is a dynamic and inner process can one comprehend why, for Hegel, rationality and reality are not two separate spheres, but two faces of the same movement.
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