“Quid est veritas?” It was not a philosopher who asked this important question. Pontius Pilatus, a roman prefect inquired one of the most important questions in philosophy. For Plato, a sentence is true if it says from whom it exists, that it exists. After Aristotle something becomes true not because we are thinking about it, we are thinking about it because it is true. For Augustine truth is, “quod ita est, ut videtur“(De vera relig. 36). The truth is eternal, timeless, non versatile and absolute. In the Scholastic, philosophers defined the truth as: adaequatio rerum et intellectuum. In the summa contra gentiles (I, 59.), Thomas Aquinas tells us : ”Veritas intellectus est adaequatio intellectus et rei, secundum quod intellectus dicit esse quod est, vel non esse quod non est.” For Descartes, the eternal truths of the mathematicians are given us by God, the truths are timeless and absolute but they can not exist outside our thoughts: “Aeternas veritates - nullam existentiam extra cogitationem nostram habentes” (Pr.ph. I, 48). Leibnitz tells us that the truth exists out of correspondence between the propositions with the things. The truth for Kant is a correspondence among the thoughts which correspond with the regulars of the mind. The eternal truth is turned into an a priority judgment. Now, we can not talk anymore of adaequatio rerum et intellectum, because the thing in itself can not be perceived anymore. Kant drew out the limits of our mind and because of this we can not have a knowledge of the absolute truth. Goethe now gives us a relative point of view: everyone can have his own truth: “Kenne ich mein Verhältnis zu mir selbst und zur Außenwelt, so heiße ich's Wahrheit. Und so kann jeder seine eigene Wahrheit haben, und es ist doch immer dieselbige“( WW. XIX, 53). Since Kant, the knowledge of the absolute truth is not available anymore, but there is a well known Philosopher, who wants to teach us that we can have a knowledge of the absolute truth. For Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, to seek the truth, to come to a knowledge of the absolute truth is the duty of a philosopher. In his first lecture at the University of Berlin, Hegel laments: “So ist das, was von jeher für das Schmählichste und Unwürdigste gegolten hat, der Erkenntnis der Wahrheit entsagen, vor unsern Zeiten zum höchsten Triumphe des Geistes erhoben worden.“
In this essay, I will try to show why Hegel believes that we can have knowledge of the absolute truth.
Table of Contents
A: Introduction: Quid est veritas? – a short review
B: The knowledge of the absolute truth
I. What means “absolute knowledge”?
II. How can we know the absolute?
C: Critical discuss of Hegel’s knowledge of the absolute
D: Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This essay examines Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s philosophical stance on the attainability of absolute truth. It investigates whether human consciousness can move beyond subjective limits to access a speculative, objective knowledge that constitutes the whole of reality, while addressing counterarguments rooted in Kantian and modern philosophical critiques.
- The historical evolution of the definition of truth.
- Defining the nature of "absolute knowledge" in Hegel’s phenomenology.
- The dialectical method as a pathway to the absolute.
- Critiques of the Hegelian claim from Kantian and contemporary perspectives.
- The relationship between the finite, the infinite, and the role of history.
Excerpt from the Book
I. What does “absolute knowledge” mean?
“... das absolute Wissen; es ist der sich in Geistsgestalt wissende Geist oder das begreifende Wissen.“ Hegel says that absolute knowledge is apprehended (begreifende) knowledge. What kind of knowledge are we talking about? Knowledge in the phenomenology is not a theoretical one, “das absolute Wissen, das Hegel in Anspruch nimmt, [ist] nicht gleichzusetzen mit dem gewöhnlich gemeinten theoretischen Wissen.” Absolute knowledge is about the speculation of reason; it is a speculative knowledge of things. The difference between a theoretical knowledge or theoretical truth and a speculative one is that in the first one there is a known result expressed in an statement. The second one has a philosophical truth, it is conceived thinking, expressed in a speculative sentence which should express the essence (when Hegel speaks about the essence [Wesen] then it is not identical with the substance or the medieval essentia. The Wesen is the basis of all existence/being: it stays always the same, stabile during all time variation.) and destroys the difference between the subject and predicate.
Summary of Chapters
A: Introduction: Quid est veritas? – a short review: This section provides a historical overview of how truth has been conceptualized from antiquity through the Scholastics to Kant, setting the stage for Hegel’s unique approach.
B: The knowledge of the absolute truth: This chapter analyzes Hegel's definition of "absolute knowledge" as a speculative process and explores the methodology required to achieve this understanding of the whole.
C: Critical discuss of Hegel’s knowledge of the absolute: This chapter engages with criticisms of Hegel’s philosophy, specifically focusing on Kantian objections and the challenge of integrating finite history into an infinite absolute truth.
D: Conclusion: The final section synthesizes the findings, asserting that while Hegel's knowledge is not empirical, his philosophical system offers the necessary tools to pursue truth through the desire for understanding.
Keywords
Hegel, Absolute Knowledge, Philosophy, Truth, Phenomenology of Spirit, Speculative Reason, Essence, Kant, Dialectics, Subject, Predicate, Consciousness, Self-confidence, History, System of Science
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper explores the philosophical question of whether absolute truth is attainable, focusing specifically on G.W.F. Hegel's arguments for its possibility.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The main themes include the definition of truth, the distinction between relative and absolute knowledge, the nature of Hegelian speculative thought, and critiques regarding the limits of human cognition.
What is the primary research question?
The essay seeks to critically discuss and demonstrate why Hegel believes that human beings are capable of possessing knowledge of the absolute truth.
Which methodology does the author employ?
The author uses a analytical-philosophical approach, evaluating textual evidence from Hegel's works and contrasting them with commentaries by Heidegger and Schnädelbach.
What is addressed in the main body of the text?
The main body examines the definitions of absolute knowledge, the methods to reach the absolute, and provides a critical evaluation of Hegel's claims against opposing viewpoints.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Hegel, Absolute Knowledge, Phenomenology of Spirit, Speculative Reason, Truth, and the Dialectic.
How does Hegel’s view of truth differ from the traditional correspondence theory?
Hegel moves beyond the simple correspondence of thought and object by emphasizing that the "whole" must be understood as a developing essence, rather than a static agreement between subject and predicate.
Why does the author argue that we should not separate the "finite" and "infinite" worlds?
The author follows Hegel’s logic, suggesting that because the infinite encompasses all, it cannot be separate from the finite world; instead, the infinite is present within the finite.
What is the role of history in Hegel's theory of truth?
History acts as an organic process of growth, similar to a plant, where previous forms of knowledge are not merely discarded but integrated into a higher, more comprehensive understanding.
- Quote paper
- Thomas Bauer (Author), 2005, Hegel and the absolute truth, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/66093
