Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Volume 2 (of 3) — Georg Hegel — John Shaqi
Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Volume 2 (of 3)
Georg Hegel · en
αα. Wisdom (σοφία) or knowledge appears as the first virtue; such a
state will be wise and good in counsel, not because of the various
kinds of knowledge therein present which have to do with the many
particular ordinary occupations falling to the multitude, such as the
trade of blacksmith, and the tillage of the soil (in short, what we
should call skill in the industrial arts, and in finance). The state is
called wise, by reason of the true knowledge which is realized in the
presiding and governing class, who advise regarding the whole state,
and decide upon the policy that is best, both at home and in relation
to foreign states. This faculty of perception is properly the peculiar
possession of the smallest class.[65]
ββ. The second virtue is courage (ἀνδρία) which Plato defines as a firm
opinion about what may justly and lawfully be considered an object
of fear, courage which, in its strength of purpose, remains unshaken
either by desires or pleasures. To this virtue corresponds the class of
the warriors.[66]
γγ. The third virtue is temperance (σωφροσύνη), the mastery over the
desires and passions, which like a harmony pervades the whole; so that,
whether understanding, or strength, or numbers, or wealth, or anything
else be regarded, the weaker and the stronger work together for one and
the same object, and are in agreement one with another. This virtue
therefore is not, like wisdom and courage, confined to one part of
the state, but like a harmony it is shared by governors and governed
alike, and is the virtue of all classes.[67] Notwithstanding that this
temperance is the harmony in which all work towards one end, it is yet
peculiarly the virtue of the third class, to whom it is allotted to
procure the necessaries of life by work, although at the first glance
the one does not appear to have much correspondence with the other.
But this virtue is present precisely when no moment, no determination
or particularity isolates itself; or, more closely viewed in a moral
aspect, it is when no want asserts its reality and thus becomes a
crime. Now work is just this moment of activity concentrating itself on
the particular, which nevertheless goes back into the universal, and
is for it. Therefore, if this virtue is universal, it yet has special
application to the third class, which at first is the only one to be
brought into harmony, as it has not the absolute harmony which the
other classes possess in themselves.