Phenomenology of Spirit

Hegel distinguishes between the happy and unhappy consciousnesses. An unhappy consciousness is divided. The individual’s desires conflict with society’s moral and ethical standards. The unhappy consciousness is in a state of constant tension, and this is manifested in the lord-bondsman dialectic as an exertion of, or submission to, power. A happy consciousness is represented by the conflict resolution between the internal and external.

Humans develop their identities by creating a mental reflection of themselves, equating their actions with their consciousness. Once more, Hegel pulls attention away from the role of the divine in human consciousness: “This middle term is the unity immediately knowing and relating both, and the consciousness of their unity" (139). Hegel asserts that a person must have self-knowledge to be a rational individual. Awareness of the self comes through the individual’s relationship with, and difference from, the social, political, and historical context within which the individual lives. Self-certainty and self-knowing are the keys to unlocking a happy consciousness and reconciling the internal with the external.

The identity, or pure essence, which emerges from this reconciliation of the exterior and interior is pure consciousness. The individual recognizes differences and conflict through reason while being unified with the self. Hegel rejects the subjective idealism presented by philosophers like Kant, which places external reality solely within consciousness. Instead, Hegel proposes that consciousness is the unity of the external and the internal mind while maintaining the ability to recognize contradictions.

Observing Reason

Hegel distinguishes between reason and the rudimentary forms of cognition. While perception is a simple instrument, perception as a tool of reason is necessary for uncovering truth. Reason actively seeks the external and the other. The individual, secure in self-identity, pursues knowledge by examining and analyzing the external world through a lens of personal perception: “Reason now has, therefore, a universal interest in the world, because it is certain of its presence in the world” (146). Reason transcends the supplication of the lord-bondsman model. Rather than running from the other or trying to overpower it, an individual using reason sees the self reflected in the other. Hegel notes that consciousness and reason are different concepts: While reason is active, consciousness is passive. Reason pursues answers and knowledge, while consciousness merely observes.

Hegel then explains observation as one of reason’s forms. A scientific model for cognition must acknowledge that people are incapable of observing independently of their own perceptions. Universals, however, are drawn from the collective agreement of similarities in the object. Observation as reason differs from observation as perception. With reason, the observer recognizes the act of observing, turning the eye upon itself. When the observer begins to observe the self, the individual moves toward a greater self-awareness. This is the foundation of psychological observation.

The Actualization of Rational Self-Consciousness Through Its Own Activity

Higher forms of reason lead the individual to recognize its position as a thing in the world, just as every object is also a thing in the world. Carrying the contradictory realizations that the individual is both a thing in the world and an independent self is Spirit. The self-conscious individual uses conscious actions, meaning the individual actively seeks a moral and ethical life. Morality is based upon what benefits the collective and creates unity.

Hegel distinguishes the ethical life of rational self-consciousness from other forms of self-realization. The first comprises those who live to serve personal desire. The most this type of life can hope for is a total loss of self. The second is the individual who adheres to a law of heart by living for others. This person’s self-realization impedes reason. The third is the individual so focused on living according to the virtue of science and rationality that they fail to recognize the roles of the spirit and individual experience.

Individuality Which Takes Itself to Be Real in and for Itself

The evolution of the human subject continues. Here, Hegel explores a self-consciousness which carries the opposition between the individual’s personal experience and absolute truth. He asserts that a person’s actions form truth and reality: “Action is simply the coming-to-be of Spirit as consciousness” (240). Humans act unconsciously, only understanding their own actions after they have occurred. Therefore, the action represents the true nature of the individual. Universal moral laws can never be formed because they are abstract and subject to individual perspective and experience.