Hegel's Philosophy of Mind — Georg Hegel — John Shaqi
Hegel's Philosophy of Mind
Georg Hegel · en
Such in brief outline—lingering most on the points where Hegel has here
been briefest—is the range of the Philosophy of Mind. Its aim is to
comprehend, not to explain: to put together in intelligent unity, not to
analyse into a series of elements. For it psychology is not an analysis or
description of mental phenomena, of laws of association, of the growth of
certain powers and ideas, but a “comprehended history” of the formation of
subjective mind, of the intelligent, feeling, willing self or ego. For it
Ethics is part and only part of the great scheme or system of
self-development; but continuing into greater concreteness the normal
endowment of the individual mind, and but preparing the ground on which
religion may be most effectively cultivated. And finally Religion itself,
released from its isolation and other-world sacrosanctity, is shown to be
only the crown of life, the ripest growth of actuality, and shown to be so
by philosophy, whilst it is made clear that religion is the basis of
philosophy, or that a philosophy can only go as far as the religious
stand-point allows. The hierarchy, if so it be called, of the spiritual
forces is one where none can stand alone, or claim an abstract and
independent supremacy. The truth of egoism is the truth of altruism: the
truly moral is the truly religious: and each is not what it professes to
be unless it anticipate the later, or include the earlier.
(iv.) Mind or Spirit.
It may be said, however, that for such a range of subjects the term Mind
is wretchedly inadequate and common-place, and that the better rendering
of the title would be Philosophy of Spirit. It may be admitted that Mind
is not all that could be wished. But neither is Spirit blameless. And, it
may be added, Hegel’s own term _Geist_ has to be unduly strained to cover
so wide a region. It serves—and was no doubt meant to serve—as a sign of
the conformity of his system with the religion which sees in God no
other-world being, but our very self and mind, and which worships him in
spirit and in truth. And if the use of a word like this could allay the
“ancient variance” between the religious and the philosophic mood, it
would be but churlish perhaps to refuse the sign of compliance and
compromise. But whatever may be the case in German,—and even there the new
wine was dangerous to the old wine-skin—it is certain that to average
English ears the word Spiritual would carry us over the medium line into
the proper land of religiosity. And to do that, as we have seen, is to sin
against the central idea: the idea that religion is of one blood with the
whole mental family, though the most graciously complete of all the
sisters. Yet, however the word may be chosen, the philosophy of Hegel,
like the august lady who appeared in vision to the emprisoned Boëthius,
has on her garment a sign which “signifies the life which is on earth,” as
also a sign which signifies the “right law of heaven”; if her right-hand