1. DIALECTIC Matt Bennett mpb74@cam.ac.uk drmattbennett.weebly.com
Hegel
DIALECTIC
Matt Bennett
drmattbennett.weebly.com

2. What is Hegel’s dialectical method?
Not: some people think A, some people think B, the right answer is compromise C Only partially: an argumentative strategy that identifies a thesis, an antithesis, and concludes with a synthesis In reality: (α) the Abstract side, or that of understanding (β) the Dialectical, or that of negative reason (γ) the Speculative, or that of positive reason

3. Desiderata for dialectics
the speculative moment must justify the contradiction exposed in the dialectical moment
it must do so without dissolving the contradiction. The point is not to replace (α) and (β) with (γ), but to improve on (α) and (β) by adding (γ).
the transitions from (α) through (γ) must be necessary, in some sense (more of which later)

4. An example?
APPLES!
ROYAL GALA
FUJI

5. Being, Nothing, Becoming
(α) the Abstract side, or that of understanding Being – pure being, featureless and indeterminate (β) the Dialectical, or that of negative reason Nothing – without quality, features, character, or determination, nothing is left. Being is indistinguishable from Nothing (γ) the Speculative, or that of positive reason The unity of Being and Nothing is Becoming

6. The System
Julie Maybee, ‘Hegel’s Dialectics’ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

7. Apples?
The apples example and Hegel’s own application with the dialectic of Being diverge. The contrast is instructive:
Lesson 1: Hegel intends the dialectical stage to be necessary in the sense that it is analytically contained in the abstract stage
Lesson 2: Hegel intends the dialectical stage to reveal a contradiction between something and its opposite, not just different things
Lesson 3: the “necessity” of the speculative stage is that the concept reached is only as complex as is needed to make sense of the two other stages, and no more complex than that
Lesson 4: the necessity is two-way. Being and Nothing are essential to Becoming. Types of apples are essential to the concept of apple, but not these two particular types

8. Criticisms
Hegel appears to be inconsistent in his application of the method
Consider his account of the dialectic of quality and quantity in EL 85Z
Adorno’s criticism: Hegel’s faith in rationality distorts his application of the dialectic
E.g. Being is phrased conceptually rather than immediately
We might also consider: the value of market economies in the Philosophy of Right