Hegel's State

7 Pages 1805 Words

ct; “the subjective will, directly aware of itself” (p76§108). This direct recognition of the self as a subject empowers it for the first time with an identity. The subjective will’s empowerment with identity places it as the sole provider for its self-judgments (p75 §107); it becomes for-itself. Hegel’s description of processes within morality by the subjective will such as the particular will’s, willing of the universal. Hegel could simply end the discussion with that note if the particular’s willing was not merely an ‘ought-to-be.’ This willing is an ‘ought-to-be’ because it is derived from a completely subjective determination of a will within particular situations. At this stage, the will has the possibility within its self-determination to choose the good, but subjectivity leaves ample room for a counterpart. The good is defined as “the absolute end of the will” (p79 §114). If the particular will acts in accordance with the good; “it is the Idea as the unity of the concept of the will with the particular will” (p86 §129). The dialectical progression seen here is the need of the arbitrary will to choose to will the universal; unifying the concept with the particular will. The particular will, lacking objectivity and thus content, could...