From 408d3ef36835a27bd85633bf869d4a4345dbf516 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2025 21:30:33 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 01/12] feat: first paragraph of quality --- .../hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 52 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 52 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx new file mode 100644 index 00000000..cbaac8f3 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +--- +title: Development +seoTitle: Quality in Hegel's Logic +description: + Learn about the development of the idea of quality from Hegel's Science of + Logic. +isArticle: true +authors: Filip Niklas (2024) +editors: +contributors: +--- + +## The Development of Quality + +> On account of the immediacy with which being and nothing are one in existence, +> neither oversteps the other; to the extent that existence is existent, to that +> extent it is non-being; it is determined. Being is not the _universal_, +> determinateness not the _particular_. Determinateness _has yet to detach +> itself_ from _being_; nor will it ever detach itself from it, since the now +> underlying truth is the unity of non-being with being; all further +> determinations will transpire on this basis. But the connection which +> determinateness now has with being is one of the immediate unity of the two, +> so that as yet no differentiation between the two is posited (Hegel 2010, +> 84-85/21.98). + +When `existence` is regarded in its immediacy, the unity of `being` and +`non-being` is understood in a simple oneness. However, this simple immediacy is +next undermined by the fact that existence is not merely immediate but is +specifically _existing_—phrased somewhat terse by Hegel as "the extent +that existence is existent". The transition here is instant: going from the +element of immediacy (`being`) to its vanishing (`non-being`). However, in +contrast to `pure being`, `existence` as a concept does not cease at its +`non-being`. In fact, if Hegel is right, that is where it _begins_. + +Hegel warns that `being` is not to be understood as a universal with +determinateness as a particular, which could suggest that being is a generic +genus of which determinateness is a particular species. This would suggest that +there could be `being` in some general form, which sometimes is counted as +determined and sometimes not. No further speculations about the nature of +undetermined `being` is necessary, since that was scrutinized +[earlier in the _Logic_](/articles/hegel/reference/being/development) and proved +to be determinate. + +Determinateness, or what a being specifically is, cannot be set apart from +`being`. The implication discovered +[previously](/articles/hegel/reference/becoming/development) is that `being` and +`non-being` are logically intertwined, yet it is in the former sublating itself +that it becomes evident _how_ being is _specifically_, namely, what it is _not_. +The case in point here is simply that `being` is _not_ `nothing`—in order +to conceptualize this, `nothing` must be connected to `being`, however, not as +sheer `nothing` but as the point where `being` ceases or where `being` is +`non-being`. From 6c1ffc314cd051da731ae0032226b4e4753c64c5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2025 14:44:08 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 02/12] feat: wip quality --- content/hegel/reference/_meta.tsx | 3 + .../hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 66 +++++++++++++++++-- 2 files changed, 63 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/_meta.tsx b/content/hegel/reference/_meta.tsx index 84a33058..bdf08cb3 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/_meta.tsx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/_meta.tsx @@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ export default { becoming: { title: "Becoming", }, + quality: { + title: "Quality", + }, "mechanical-object": { title: "Mechanical Object", }, diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index cbaac8f3..92fa5698 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -27,10 +27,11 @@ When `existence` is regarded in its immediacy, the unity of `being` and `non-being` is understood in a simple oneness. However, this simple immediacy is next undermined by the fact that existence is not merely immediate but is specifically _existing_—phrased somewhat terse by Hegel as "the extent -that existence is existent". The transition here is instant: going from the -element of immediacy (`being`) to its vanishing (`non-being`). However, in -contrast to `pure being`, `existence` as a concept does not cease at its -`non-being`. In fact, if Hegel is right, that is where it _begins_. +that existence is existent". What should be understood is that the transition +here is instant: going from the element of immediacy (`being`) to its vanishing +(`non-being`). However, in contrast to `pure being`, `existence` as a concept +does not cease at its `non-being`. In fact, if Hegel is right, that is where it +_begins_. Hegel warns that `being` is not to be understood as a universal with determinateness as a particular, which could suggest that being is a generic @@ -44,9 +45,62 @@ to be determinate. Determinateness, or what a being specifically is, cannot be set apart from `being`. The implication discovered [previously](/articles/hegel/reference/becoming/development) is that `being` and -`non-being` are logically intertwined, yet it is in the former sublating itself +`non-being` are logically intertwined, yet it is when the former sublates itself that it becomes evident _how_ being is _specifically_, namely, what it is _not_. The case in point here is simply that `being` is _not_ `nothing`—in order to conceptualize this, `nothing` must be connected to `being`, however, not as sheer `nothing` but as the point where `being` ceases or where `being` is -`non-being`. +`non-being`. Said otherwise, `nothing` as the point at which `being` ceases +(vanishes) _is_ `non-being` insofar as this is understood to be _connected_ to +`being` as such. As [noted](/articles/hegel/reference/existence/development), +this conceptualization is no longer pure `being` but `existence`. + +> Determinateness thus isolated by itself, as _existent_ determinateness, is +> _quality_ – something totally simple, immediate. _Determinateness_ in general +> is the more universal which, further determined, can be something quantitative +> as well. On account of this simplicity, there is nothing further to say about +> quality as such (Hegel 2010, 85/21.98). + +In elaborating this connection of `being` and `non-being`, it is made explicit +how a new determinateness is at play, indeed, this determinateness is `quality`. +For now, this determinateness is merely something simple and immediate. However, +based on the development thus far, it is implied that it renders how an existent +negotiates `being` and `non-being` depending on whether the existent is +explicitly regarded in the register of `being` _or_ `non-being`. + +> Existence, however, in which nothing and being are equally contained, is +> itself the measure of the one-sidedness of quality as an only _immediate_ or +> _existent_ determinateness. Quality is equally to be posited in the +> determination of nothing, and the result is that the immediate or existent +> determinateness is posited as distinct, reflected, and the nothing, as thus +> the determinate element of determinateness, will equally be something +> reflected, a _negation_. Quality, in the distinct value of _existent_, is +> _reality_; when affected by a negating, it is _negation_ in general, still a +> quality but one that counts as a lack and is further determined as limit, +> restriction (Hegel 2010, 85/21.98-99). + +In the first case, insofar as `existence` is regarded immediately, it falls +under `quality` in its one-sidedness where determinateness is simply existent. +This is positing `quality` in the determination of `being`. Equally, `quality` +must be posited in the determination of `nothing`. + +Positing in the determination of `nothing` brings immediacy to its mediation, or +`being` to its `non-being`. Insofar as this is done, `being` is rendered a +distinct moment alongside `non-being`. The determining of these as _distinct +moments_ forks `quality` into two variants: `reality` and `negation`. + +> Both are an existence, but in _reality_, as quality with the accent on being +> an existent, that it is determinateness and hence also negation is concealed; +> reality only has, therefore, the value of something positive from which +> negating, restriction, lack, are excluded. Negation, for its part, taken as +> mere lack, would be what nothing is; but it is an existence, a quality, only +> determined with a non-being (Hegel 2010, 85/21.99). + +```mermaid +flowchart LR + Existence --> C{Determinateness} + C -- being --> D[Reality] + D -.-> Existence + C -- non-being --> E[Negation] + +``` From 6ce464bd710375848b9400b025dcf00b4f3e5a85 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2025 15:28:47 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 03/12] feat: quality development first draft --- .../hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 37 +++++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 29 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index 92fa5698..fb48b3d6 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ contributors: ## The Development of Quality +### Determinateness and Being + > On account of the immediacy with which being and nothing are one in existence, > neither oversteps the other; to the extent that existence is existent, to that > extent it is non-being; it is determined. Being is not the _universal_, @@ -55,6 +57,8 @@ sheer `nothing` but as the point where `being` ceases or where `being` is `being` as such. As [noted](/articles/hegel/reference/existence/development), this conceptualization is no longer pure `being` but `existence`. +### The Birth of Quality: Reality and Negation + > Determinateness thus isolated by itself, as _existent_ determinateness, is > _quality_ – something totally simple, immediate. _Determinateness_ in general > is the more universal which, further determined, can be something quantitative @@ -62,11 +66,11 @@ this conceptualization is no longer pure `being` but `existence`. > quality as such (Hegel 2010, 85/21.98). In elaborating this connection of `being` and `non-being`, it is made explicit -how a new determinateness is at play, indeed, this determinateness is `quality`. -For now, this determinateness is merely something simple and immediate. However, -based on the development thus far, it is implied that it renders how an existent -negotiates `being` and `non-being` depending on whether the existent is -explicitly regarded in the register of `being` _or_ `non-being`. +how a new category is at play, indeed, this determinateness is determinateness +itself: `quality`. For now, this determinateness is merely something simple and +immediate. However, based on the development thus far, it is implied that it +renders how an existent negotiates `being` and `non-being` depending on whether +the existent is explicitly regarded in the register of `being` _or_ `non-being`. > Existence, however, in which nothing and being are equally contained, is > itself the measure of the one-sidedness of quality as an only _immediate_ or @@ -96,11 +100,28 @@ moments_ forks `quality` into two variants: `reality` and `negation`. > mere lack, would be what nothing is; but it is an existence, a quality, only > determined with a non-being (Hegel 2010, 85/21.99). +While the development of `quality` stems from the explication of the connection +of `being` and `non-being`, its more determined forms `reality` and `negation` +emphasize their respective ends of the connection. This emphasis actually serves +to conceal the other end. For example, determining something as real emphasizes +its `being` and conceals the implied connection to `non-being` and `negation`. +This matches the prior development at the +[start](/articles/hegel/reference/existence/development) where `existence` is +actually only regarded in its `reality`, that is, immediate being, with its +`negation` concealed. + ```mermaid flowchart LR Existence --> C{Determinateness} - C -- being --> D[Reality] + C -- "qua being" --> D[Reality] D -.-> Existence - C -- non-being --> E[Negation] - + C -- "qua non-being" --> E[Negation] ``` + +`Negation`, however, while emphasizing its respective end of `non-being`, +appears to imply `being` in a stronger sense than `reality`, since nothing less +than an existent can be negated. Whereas an existent can be real with only an +implied reference to its `non-being`. This creates an asymmetrical relationship +between the two categories. + +## Further Commentary From 75cb7dfd4cf0768c89cb6cc82c4def557cefc489 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2025 18:26:35 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 04/12] feat: started work on houlgate commentary --- .../hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 30 ++++++++++++++++--- 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index fb48b3d6..376d652f 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -102,10 +102,11 @@ moments_ forks `quality` into two variants: `reality` and `negation`. While the development of `quality` stems from the explication of the connection of `being` and `non-being`, its more determined forms `reality` and `negation` -emphasize their respective ends of the connection. This emphasis actually serves -to conceal the other end. For example, determining something as real emphasizes -its `being` and conceals the implied connection to `non-being` and `negation`. -This matches the prior development at the +emphasize their respective ends of the connection. On the one hand, it is +`being` _with_ `non-being`, and in the other, it is `non-being` _with_ `being`. +This emphasis actually serves to conceal the other end. For example, determining +something as real emphasizes its `being` and conceals the implied connection to +`non-being` and `negation`. This matches the prior development at the [start](/articles/hegel/reference/existence/development) where `existence` is actually only regarded in its `reality`, that is, immediate being, with its `negation` concealed. @@ -124,4 +125,25 @@ than an existent can be negated. Whereas an existent can be real with only an implied reference to its `non-being`. This creates an asymmetrical relationship between the two categories. +`Quality` thus establishes that `existence`, owing precisely to its unity of +_two_, must come in two forms: `reality` is the qualitative determinateness with +the accent on `being` in the connection whereas `negation` is the qualitative +determinateness with the accent on `non-being`. The previous perfect coinciding +of `being` and `non-being` in `existence` as it was first presented is now +regarded as _one_ of its forms, namely, in its `reality`. + ## Further Commentary + +### Houlgate + +Stephen Houlgate writes that _Dasein_ (`existence`) is not to be thought of as a +"subject" that "has" qualities, on the contrary, he writes, "_Dasein_ is one +with – indeed, identical to – quality itself" (Houlgate 2022, 161). +Quality makes being determinate and being is determinate insofar as it is +qualitative. He notes that it is tempting to think of `quality` as a property +that belongs to something; however—and this is part of what makes +speculative logic challenging—Hegel's account conceives of `quality` +_without_ that notion that it belongs to "something". Instead, `quality` is +regarded entirely on its own as a consequence of how speculative +presuppositionless logic proceeds, namely, from indeterminate `being` (through +`nothing` and `becoming`) to determinate `existence`. From fea03802f8a3b3f263f2265b897876b2ee56de27 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2025 23:27:37 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 05/12] feat: more houlgate on quality and its tension --- .../hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 45 +++++++++++++++++-- cspell.json | 1 + 2 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index 376d652f..c1d59093 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -83,10 +83,13 @@ the existent is explicitly regarded in the register of `being` _or_ `non-being`. > quality but one that counts as a lack and is further determined as limit, > restriction (Hegel 2010, 85/21.98-99). -In the first case, insofar as `existence` is regarded immediately, it falls -under `quality` in its one-sidedness where determinateness is simply existent. -This is positing `quality` in the determination of `being`. Equally, `quality` -must be posited in the determination of `nothing`. +Here Hegel points out that `existence` is the _measure_ of the one-sidedness of +quality. When `existence` is merely grasped immediately, this one-sidedness is +an external reflection. However, in `quality` the one-sidedness is made inherent +in the category itself. Following this, insofar as `existence` is regarded +immediately, it falls under `quality` in its one-sidedness where determinateness +is simply existent. This is positing `quality` in the determination of `being`. +Equally, `quality` must be posited in the determination of `nothing`. Positing in the determination of `nothing` brings immediacy to its mediation, or `being` to its `non-being`. Insofar as this is done, `being` is rendered a @@ -147,3 +150,37 @@ _without_ that notion that it belongs to "something". Instead, `quality` is regarded entirely on its own as a consequence of how speculative presuppositionless logic proceeds, namely, from indeterminate `being` (through `nothing` and `becoming`) to determinate `existence`. + +Houlgate poses the question why the one-sidedness of `being` is valid in +`quality` but not in `existence` as such? The reason is that `non-being` is in +`existence` merely implicit whereas it comes explicitly to the fore in `quality` +since the latter is a further form of determinacy or `non-being`. + +> The moment of non-being is thus explicitly to the fore in quality in a way it +> is not in _Dasein_ by itself. Yet quality is determinacy, or non-being, “in +> the form of _being_” (_als seiende_) (Hegel 2010, 84/21.98). There is thus an +> explicit tension in it that is absent from _Dasein_ as it is first conceived: +> quality is _non_-being, but in the form of _being_ rather than non-being +> itself. As such, quality is non-being that fails to do justice to its own +> negative character. Accordingly, the judgement that it is “one-sided” is not +> merely an external reflection, but is grounded in its explicit logical +> structure. Strictly speaking, therefore, it is not just _Dasein_ in general, +> but _quality_ itself, that contains the criterion for the one-sidedness of +> quality (Houlgate 2022, 162). + +This observation shows that, firstly, quality fails to be fully `non-being` (or +that `non-being` fails to be fully itself) since it is `non-being` _in_ the form +of `being`. Roughly speaking, it is a negative element in a positive one. +Secondly, the one-sidedness stems from exactly this split within `quality`; its +inability to cohere fully with its negative characters has left a distance or +rift, so to speak, between its `being` and determinateness, or its presentation +and its meaning. One might say that `quality` not only is the birth of +determinateness but also of one-sidedness: the notion that something is being +omitted, indeed, _the_ negative itself within the negative.[^1] Thirdly, then, +it becomes clear that a tension exists in `quality` that was not apparent in +`existence` as such. + +[^1]: + In a twisted sense, the negative is negative even with respect to itself, + such that it fails to be negative as negative. And precisely because of + this, it succeeds (Niklas). diff --git a/cspell.json b/cspell.json index 4e16b745..dd018ed4 100644 --- a/cspell.json +++ b/cspell.json @@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ "Realphilosophie", "Rokni", "Sache", + "seiende", "simpliciter", "spatio", "sphil", From b967efb72ab018d899a5cad8a3523a997098a196 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2025 23:03:06 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 06/12] feat: houlgates derivation of reality and negation --- content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 14 ++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index c1d59093..b625b339 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -184,3 +184,17 @@ it becomes clear that a tension exists in `quality` that was not apparent in In a twisted sense, the negative is negative even with respect to itself, such that it fails to be negative as negative. And precisely because of this, it succeeds (Niklas). + +Houlgate traces carefully the development of `negation` and `reality`. First, +once `quality` is understood to be not only `non-being` in the form of `being` +but `being` _in_ the form of `non-being`, it becomes fully and explicitly +negative: `negation`. He stresses that the category of `negation` arises at this +point in the logical development because thought simply renders explicit what is +implicit in the conception of quality itself. "The derivation of negation is +thus wholly immanent in Hegel's distinctive sense" (Houlgate 2022, 162). + +Second, once it is then understood that `quality` differentiates _itself_ from +simple, immediate quality—which is determinacy _in the form of being_ +(akin to `existence`)—in the negative element of `negation`. This simple +and immediate quality takes on an affirmative quality _in contrast_ to the +negative quality. This one-sided affirmative quality is named `reality`. From 48b81885266bd67268994d130f5fa7d2899436f7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2025 20:33:53 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 07/12] feat: work on houlgate commentary --- content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 8 ++++++++ cspell.json | 3 ++- 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index b625b339..88a12c58 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -135,6 +135,8 @@ determinateness with the accent on `non-being`. The previous perfect coinciding of `being` and `non-being` in `existence` as it was first presented is now regarded as _one_ of its forms, namely, in its `reality`. +TODO - add an concluding implications section + ## Further Commentary ### Houlgate @@ -198,3 +200,9 @@ simple, immediate quality—which is determinacy _in the form of being_ (akin to `existence`)—in the negative element of `negation`. This simple and immediate quality takes on an affirmative quality _in contrast_ to the negative quality. This one-sided affirmative quality is named `reality`. + +`Reality` and `negation` are not merely different moments of quality. The +moments of quality are logically `non-being` and `being`, which both `reality` +and `negation` are. However, what sets them apart is the different stress or +accent (_Akzent_). They are both `quality` but with the emphasis put more on +either immediate `being` or mediated `non-being`. diff --git a/cspell.json b/cspell.json index 21768a1e..f021bce4 100644 --- a/cspell.json +++ b/cspell.json @@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ "dictionaries": [], "words": [ "Ahilleas", + "Akzent", "analysed", "Assertoric", "atemporal", @@ -74,9 +75,9 @@ "Routledge", "Sache", "seiend", + "seiende", "Seiendes", "Sein", - "seiende", "simpliciter", "spatio", "sphil", From ef893df25e34b29fd91329df0c18f7f7409df55f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2025 19:04:18 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 08/12] feat: houlgate on reality and negation continued --- .../hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 22 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 22 insertions(+) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index 88a12c58..8f99e41d 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -206,3 +206,25 @@ moments of quality are logically `non-being` and `being`, which both `reality` and `negation` are. However, what sets them apart is the different stress or accent (_Akzent_). They are both `quality` but with the emphasis put more on either immediate `being` or mediated `non-being`. + +For many philosophers, writes Houlgate, all qualities are real while negation is +the absence of a quality. In Hegel, however, negation is _likewise_ a quality: +negation is the quality of _not_ being so and so. "Determinate being contains +non-being and is thus identical with quality; quality in turn, _as_ non-being in +the form of being, cannot just be affirmative but must also be negative; it +must, therefore, take the twin forms of reality _and_ negation" (Houlgate 2022, +163). `Negation` therefore is just as much part of `existence` (determinate +being) as `reality`, since it is seen that `existence` is not simply `being` +_but also_ `non-being`. + +But does this account of quality and negation not lead to the idea that +everything has a infinite number of quality, each of which is _not_ being +another thing? Houlgate answers that this cannot be the case because there are, +at this stage of the logic, no "things" in relation to other "things", much less +an infinity of them. "All Hegel has demonstrated so far is the general +proposition that quality is both negative and affirmative, and that, +accordingly, negation belongs to determinate being as much as reality does" +(Houlgate 2022, 163). Houlgate's conclusion is that all that is the case right +now is `existence` and its twin forms of `reality` and `negation`; it has not +been shown how existents would relate vis-à-vis one another, much less the idea +of _an_ existent as something self-contained. From 47b15f9d7e74ee315568497a1f71b73721a462fb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2025 17:29:30 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 09/12] feat: houlgate section done, added meta and overview files --- content/hegel/reference/quality/_meta.ts | 4 ++ .../hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 52 +++++++++++++++++++ content/hegel/reference/quality/overview.mdx | 15 ++++++ cspell.json | 3 ++ 4 files changed, 74 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/hegel/reference/quality/_meta.ts create mode 100644 content/hegel/reference/quality/overview.mdx diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/_meta.ts b/content/hegel/reference/quality/_meta.ts new file mode 100644 index 00000000..62632e72 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/_meta.ts @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +export default { + overview: "", + development: "", +}; diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index 8f99e41d..3260cb21 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -228,3 +228,55 @@ accordingly, negation belongs to determinate being as much as reality does" now is `existence` and its twin forms of `reality` and `negation`; it has not been shown how existents would relate vis-à-vis one another, much less the idea of _an_ existent as something self-contained. + +As Nietzsche said of Wagner, Houlgate writes, "Hegel is a great '_miniaturist_'" +(Houlgate 2022, 165). He is interested in the fine—and +significant—details. Therefore, it is important to clearly distinguish the +terms Hegel uses and their difference. + +- Determinacy (_Bestimmtheit_) is simple non-being (_Nichtsein_). +- Quality (being more than determinacy), is determinacy in the form of being. +- Negation (_Negation_) is then negative quality, or _non_-being in the form of + being; it is quality with the accent on the "non-". +- Negative (_Verneinung_) is "non-" itself or the negative element. + +`Negation` and the _negative_ are different terms, Houlgate points out, since +the latter is merely a moment of the former. The negative, Houlgate writes, "is +not non-being itself, but the 'non-' _in_ non-being" (Houlgate 2022, 165). In +contrast to `nothing`, Houlgate continues, the negative is not the not by itself +but specifically the "not-" or "non-" that is a moment of `non-being` (Houlgate +2022, 165). + +Next, Houlgate accounts for Hegel's particular interest in _different kinds of +difference_. + +> The difference between negation and reality is _determinate_ because, in their +> stability, one of them – negation – is explicitly _negative_ and +> so is explicitly _not_ the other; this negative quality thus sets itself over +> against the other – affirmative – quality and thereby +> differentiates the latter from itself (Houlgate 2022, 166). + +In contrast to `being` and `nothing`, where the difference is immediate, +unstable and vanishing, the difference of `negation` and `reality` is more +stable and determined; each category can _co-exist_ side by side. Unlike the +difference between `existence` and `quality`, however, the difference between +`reality`and `negation` is one where one element is explicitly _not_ the other. +This, Houlgate points out, means that `reality` and `negation` are not only two +forms of determinate being (`quality`), but that their difference between them +is itself _determinate_. "The reason why is that each is a form of quality, but +it cannot be quality all by itself ... Accordingly, reality _as determinate_ +must contain _negation_" (Houlgate 2022, 166). + +Finally, while `reality` and `negation` do not vanish into one another and +retain a stable and determinate difference, each category—while equally +being a form of `quality`—nonetheless _conceals_ the other in its being. +"Reality and negation are thus not just contrasting categories, but _each +conceals the other in itself_" (Houlgate 2022, 167). Accordingly, Houlgate +claims, the relation between these should be represented as follows: + +``` +reality (negation) / negation (reality) +``` + +`Reality` and `negation` are two sides of one single difference, each which, as +`quality` contains but conceals the other. diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/overview.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/overview.mdx new file mode 100644 index 00000000..42d63f76 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/overview.mdx @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +--- +title: Overview +seoTitle: Overview of Quality in Hegel's Logic +description: + Overview page for the category of quality from Hegel's Science of Logic. +isArticle: false +searchable: false +--- + +## Overview of Quality + +`Quality` is the further development of the category of `existence` where the +negative element comes to the fore. It is shown how the twin notions of +`reality` and `negation` both contain and reinforce the difference latent in +determinate being. diff --git a/cspell.json b/cspell.json index f021bce4..489579de 100644 --- a/cspell.json +++ b/cspell.json @@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ "ausgeglichen", "Autosize", "Befreiung", + "Bestimmtheit", "Bluesky", "Burbidge", "Clientside", @@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ "Mert", "mindmap", "Nicht", + "Nichtsein", "Niklas", "numpages", "oppheve", @@ -101,6 +103,7 @@ "unseparatedness", "Upsert", "vanishedness", + "Verneinung", "webp", "Wissenschaft", "Yirmibes", From 44650e5dd178d2c270699eea9aa753e3f4ed4b18 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2025 18:14:56 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 10/12] feat: burbidge and mctaggart commentaries --- .../hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 44 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 44 insertions(+) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index 3260cb21..c35c0eb7 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -139,6 +139,31 @@ TODO - add an concluding implications section ## Further Commentary +### Burbidge + +John Burbidge writes that `quality` is equally indeterminate as the indefinite +sense of "a being" (`existence`), however it is not identical with it because it +is, "the result of a one-sided concern with the specific determination involved +in _a being_. As determination it negates the pure indeterminacy of _being_. +Despite the fact that it defines the reality of _a being_, then, it also +introduces a certain restriction—a certain negativity" (Burbidge 1981, +47). + +When the understanding thinks through the terms hereby isolated, Burbidge +continues, it notices that _a being_ is both the same as, and yet different +from, its _quality_. "While _quality_ distinguishes _a being_ from _being_ it is +not in fact different from that indeterminate characteristic suggested in the +indefinite article" (Burbidge 1981, 47). + +Burbidge's account appears to take its cue from the +[external reflection](/articles/hegel/reference/existence/development#immediacy-and-determinateness-niklas-yirmibes) +where `existence` is understood as a form that contains various moments. This +view is amendable to the idea that `quality` is something that inheres in a +thing, or in Burbidge's case, "a being". But this account renders `quality` +nearly a tautology, which unto itself is a sophisticated conceptual movement not +disclosed by the logic, and it fails to appreciate the important developments of +`reality` and `negation` as different from of the _same_ qualitative difference. + ### Houlgate Stephen Houlgate writes that _Dasein_ (`existence`) is not to be thought of as a @@ -280,3 +305,22 @@ reality (negation) / negation (reality) `Reality` and `negation` are two sides of one single difference, each which, as `quality` contains but conceals the other. + +### McTaggart + +John McTaggart warns not to be misled of the ordinary notion of a quality that +inheres in a thing. There are no things and their characteristics to determinate +at this stage in the logic. "The Qualities of which Hegel speaks here are simply +the immediate differentiations of Being Determinate. They do not inhere in +anything more substantial than themselves" (McTaggart 1910, 22). + +However, McTaggart then proceeds to consider qualities as an aggregate, but that +may be too advanced at this stage of the logic as well. It is not until the +section on +[mechanism](/articles/hegel/reference/mechanical-object/first-paragraph) that +the idea of an aggregate and its requisite mechanical indifference is made +explicit. He further considers such plurality to be the transition into +`something`, which by the same token is incorrect. First, there is not a +plurality of qualities being considered (one may freely consider quality in a +plural sense but this does nothing to advance the logic), and, second, it is the +sublation of `reality` and `negation` that engenders the category `something`. From de52ec47c232326344019b6bbf7d8510f2459ea0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2025 18:30:08 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 11/12] feat: added implications --- content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 12 +++++++++++- 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index c35c0eb7..e1ece2a0 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -135,7 +135,17 @@ determinateness with the accent on `non-being`. The previous perfect coinciding of `being` and `non-being` in `existence` as it was first presented is now regarded as _one_ of its forms, namely, in its `reality`. -TODO - add an concluding implications section +### Implications of Qualitative Difference + +Hegel's account of `quality` shows that a characteristic that _is_ also contains +a necessary negative component, namely, that it is _not_. While the logic has +not yet developed any context, much less a "thing", within which such `quality` +could inhere, one can appreciate that any determinate being cannot be qualified +as anything less than the singular difference of `reality` and `negation`; each +accenting a distinctive feature of determinacy. If Hegel is right, there is no +such thing as a being that only contains pure reality, for anything that is real +implies negation, and negation, in turn, is no mere void or lack of reality but +_is_ itself a real difference. ## Further Commentary From 71cfb57c31189167e483b9acef976cc77f0b5cb6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Filip Niklas Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2025 18:40:59 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 12/12] chore: fix n dash --- content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx | 8 ++++---- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx index e1ece2a0..e9bdafd0 100644 --- a/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx +++ b/content/hegel/reference/quality/development.mdx @@ -60,10 +60,10 @@ this conceptualization is no longer pure `being` but `existence`. ### The Birth of Quality: Reality and Negation > Determinateness thus isolated by itself, as _existent_ determinateness, is -> _quality_ – something totally simple, immediate. _Determinateness_ in general -> is the more universal which, further determined, can be something quantitative -> as well. On account of this simplicity, there is nothing further to say about -> quality as such (Hegel 2010, 85/21.98). +> _quality_ – something totally simple, immediate. _Determinateness_ in +> general is the more universal which, further determined, can be something +> quantitative as well. On account of this simplicity, there is nothing further +> to say about quality as such (Hegel 2010, 85/21.98). In elaborating this connection of `being` and `non-being`, it is made explicit how a new category is at play, indeed, this determinateness is determinateness