Chapter 7 Chapter 2 Perception; Things and Illusions

Immediate certainty has not yet known its own truth, for its truth is the universal; and it is this one which it wants to know.Conversely, perception recognizes as universal what exists for it.Generally speaking, universality is the principle of perception, so the links in perception that directly distinguish each other are also based on universality: I am a universal, and the object is also a universal.The principle of universality then appears to us, and our knowledge of perception is no longer an individual and accidental knowledge, like perceptual certainty, but a necessary process.Simultaneously with the emergence of the principle of universality, there appear two moments which emerge before us only as phenomena: one is the process of pointing out, the other is still the same process, but recognized as simple; The former is perception, the latter is object.In essence, the object and the process are identical, the process being the unfolding and distinguishing movement of the two moments, the object being the two moments recognized as a united body.The universal as principle is the essence of perception, so far as we are concerned, or as such, to which the two aspects of the distinction—the perceiver and the perceived—are of no importance. of.But, in fact, both are primary because both are themselves universals or essences.However, the two are in a relationship of opposites to each other, so only one aspect of this relationship can be the main one, and a distinction must be made between the main and the non-essential.That is defined as an easy aspect—

The object—is the main thing, it is the essence, no matter whether it is perceived or not, it is indistinguishable; but perception as a process of cognition is not constant, there may be perception or no perception, so it is non-essential. For this object we must now define more precisely, and we can only briefly develop the determination of the object on the basis of the results obtained; a more detailed development does not belong to the task here.Since the principle of the object—the universal—is in its simplicity a principle of indirection, it must show that this indirect universal is its inner nature; thus the object is shown For itself is a thing with many qualities.The rich content of perceptual knowledge belongs only to perception and not to direct certainty, and the rich content in direct perceptual certainty is only listed there as individual grounds.For only perception contains negativity, difference, diversity as its essence.

1. The simple concept of things In perception, "this one" is posited as not this one or as superseded, so that it is not nothing, but a specific nothing, or a nothing with content, that is, this nothing.Here the sensory element is still present.But it no longer exists as a signified individual thing as in direct certainty, but exists as a universal or as a quality.Sublation here shows the true double meaning it entails, which we often see in negatives, namely: sublation is negation and at the same time preservation; nothing, as this nothing, preserves the immediate Sexuality, and perceptual in itself, but a universal immediacy.But such being is a universal, since it contains indirection and the negation within itself.When it expresses universality in its immediacy, it is differentiated, specific.This builds up a multitude of such qualities, each of which is the negation of the other.When they are expressed by the simplicity of the universal, these determinations really become properties by further determinations added together, they are related to themselves, they are independent of each other, each Both are independent, each independent of the other.But the simple, self-identical universality itself is distinct from these determinations and does not belong together; this universality is the pure self-relation or medium in which all these determinations are Acquiring existence, in the medium in which all these determinations, as in a simple unity, penetrate each other, but do not interfere with each other;

For precisely because they participate in this universality, they are independent of each other. —This abstract universal medium, which we may call things in general or pure essence, is manifested here and now as the mere aggregate of many elements; In itself, each is a simple universal.Salt is a simple here, and at the same time it is multifaceted; it is white and salty, it has a cubic shape, it has a certain weight, and so on.All these numerous qualities exist in this one simple here, and they interpenetrate here; No one quality has another here different from another, but every quality exists everywhere in the same here as the others; and at the same time they are not separated by different heres. On the other hand, in this case of running together, they do not affect each other; the whiteness of the salt does not affect or change the square shape of the salt, neither the whiteness nor the cubic shape of the salt affect or change the saltiness of the salt, since Since each trait is itself a simple self-relation, they do not interfere with each other, they are only related to each other through that indifferent.So this again is the pure universal itself, or the medium that unites them so independently of each other—things in general.

In this relation which has arisen, only the character of positive universality is observed and brought into play by us.But there is another aspect here that must also be elucidated.That is, if these many defined qualities are absolutely independent of each other, but they are only related to themselves completely, then they are not determined, because only when there is a difference between them, and when they They are prescribed only when they are in opposition to each other.But with this relation of opposites, they cannot come together in the mere unity of their medium, which is as important to them as negativity.The process of distinguishing these qualities would thus fall outside this mere medium, since the process of distinction makes the qualities not mutually exclusive, but mutually exclusive and mutually negating; and the medium thus not only Just one and one, an indiscriminate unity, and a single, exclusive unity. - The singularity is the moment of negativity, since it relates itself to itself in a mere way and excludes the other, and it is through the singularity that thingness (Dingheit) is determined as a thing (Ding).Negativity is, in its character, a determination that is immediately identified with the immediacy of being, which, by virtue of its identity with negativity, is universal; When it exists for the ground, it is oneness.

From the perspective of these several links, the process of the completion of things into the truth of perception has been developed here.First, things are undifferentiated passive commonality, a mechanical collection of many qualities (connected only with "and"), or it can be said that they are a collection of substances (or material components); second, things are also It is pure negativity, unity, the rejection of opposite qualities; thirdly, the thing is the qualities themselves, that is, the connection of the first two links, which is related to the undifferentiated elements and thus develops into The negativity of differences is the point of light of individuality which shines on differences through the medium of what persists.On the one hand, these differences belong to the undifferentiated medium, they are universal in themselves, they only relate to themselves and do not affect each other; on the other hand, they have a negative unity, they are at the same time mutual Exclusive, but they—as differentiated qualities—necessarily have a relationship of opposites, and apart from the relationship of being united by "and", they also have their own separate existence.The universality of sensibility, or the immediate unity of being and negativity, is therefore only the quality, since both the singularity and the pure universality are developed and distinguished from each other in the quality, and it is also in the quality that the singularity and the pure universality are combined with each other.Things are not reached until this immediate unity is accomplished in connection with those purely essential moments.

2. Contradictory concepts of things Such is the nature of things in perception.Consciousness which has things as its objects is defined as perceptual consciousness.It has only to accept the object, to adopt an attitude of pure awareness; and what is gained through this process is truth.If the perceptual consciousness is active in receiving the object, it is increased or decreased by this action, and it changes the truth.Since the object is the truth, the universal, and self-equal, and the consciousness itself is a changeable and unimportant thing, then the consciousness may mistakenly recognize the object, and thus fall into an illusion.The consciousness of perception is consciousness with the possibility of falling into illusion; for in that commonality as principle the perceiver is immediately aware of the other in itself, but as annihilated, as superseded.Therefore, the perceiver's standard of truth is self-identity, and his attitude is to grasp what is presented to him as self-equivalent.At the same time, since the object he knows is the quality of diversity, his attitude is to connect the links of the diversity he knows with each other.But in the course of this comparison, if non-identity arises, it is not due to the unreality of the object (for the object is self-identical), but due to the unreality of perception.

We can now see what kind of experience consciousness forms in its actual perception.This experience for us is already contained in the development of the object just mentioned and in the attitude of consciousness towards the object, and experience is only the development of the contradictions that arise in it. —The object I take appears to be a pure unity; but I shall perceive that the object is universal in its quality, and thus transcends individuality.The original existence of that objective reality as a single thing is therefore not its true existence; Since the object is real, unreality belongs to the subject, and cognition is false.Because of the universality of qualities I must regard objective reality rather as communities in general.Now I am further aware that qualities are defined, opposed to, and exclusive of others.Therefore my perception of objective reality is in fact incorrect when I define it as a community with other things or as a continuum, and because of the determinacy of the qualities I have to separate this continuum, and set it as an exclusive single body.In the divided unity, I find many such qualities, which do not affect each other and are independent of each other; so that when I regard the object as an exclusive thing, my perception of it is not right, The object, on the contrary, just as it was before but a general continuum, is now only a universal common medium in which qualities exist as a universality of sensibility, each in isolation and as a particular substance. And exclude others.Then what I perceive as simple and real is not a universal medium, but an isolated individual quality, which is neither a quality nor a definite being; for it is now both Not belonging to a single entity, nor related to anything else.But a quality is a quality only insofar as it is subordinate to a unitary body, and only insofar as it is related to something else, it is a definite and determinate quality.As this pure self-relationship it can only be a sensuous being in general, since it no longer has a negative character in it.And now the consciousness which has sensuous being as its object is only a signification, that is to say, consciousness has completely detached itself from perception and still retreats into itself.But sensuous being and signification themselves pass over to perception again; so I return to where I started, and circle around in the same great circle, each of which has to be sublated and taken as a whole.

Consciousness then has to rewind such a circle again, but at the same time in a different way than the previous time.Because it has formed an experience of perception, it recognizes that the result and truth of perception is its dissolution, that is, the return from the truth of perception to itself.In this way, consciousness becomes clear, the nature of its perception is not primarily a simple pure knowledge, but in its knowledge, at the same time, it transcends reality and returns to consciousness itself.This return of consciousness to itself is immediately involved in the pure process of cognition, since it is shown to be important for perception, but it alters reality.Consciousness at the same time recognizes this aspect as its own, and accepts it within itself, since in this way it can reach the purely real object. —So, as in the stage of sensuous certainty, there now appears in perception the aspect that consciousness is compelled to return to itself, but first of all in a different sense than in the preceding stage, so that The truth of perception, as it were, fell within consciousness itself; now consciousness recognizes that the error or untruth in the process of perception falls within consciousness itself.But with this knowledge, consciousness is at the same time capable of sublating this untruth; it distinguishes the truth from the untruth of its cognition in perception, corrects its untruth, and insofar as consciousness can undertake to correct the error responsibility, then truth, truth as perception, will undoubtedly fall within consciousness.Hence the nature of the attitude of consciousness which we are now considering is this: Consciousness no longer merely perceives [the object], but it is aware of itself returning to itself, that is, of its own reflection, and combines this reflection with simple The awareness itself distinguishes itself.

So first I will perceive the thing as a unity and fix it with this true determination.If, in the process of perception, something contradicts it, then I take it to be due to my reflection.Now again appear in perception many different qualities which appear to be qualities of things.But things are unity, and as soon as there is such a variety, it ceases to be unity, and we become aware that this variety falls within us.So in fact it is only white to our eyes, salty to our tongue, and cuboid to our touch.The whole variety of these aspects we do not get from things, but from us.We find that these qualities are different from each other because of the different organs with which they come into contact with us, for example, the eyes are quite different from the tongue.We, then, are the common medium in which these moments are separate and independent.Since we see that it is our reflection that gives us the property of a common medium, we preserve the self-identity of things, and their truth as unity.

But these different aspects of consciousness, which it regards as belonging to it, are independent and specifically determinate in so far as they are in a common medium. White is only opposed to black, etc., and a thing is unity precisely because it is opposed to something else.But insofar as it is one, it does not exclude others—for what is called one is universal self-relationship, and because it is one, it is rather equal to all—it excludes others. A thing is due to its determination.So things themselves are determinate in themselves and for themselves. Things have qualities by which they distinguish themselves from other things. Because the quality of a thing is its own unique quality, or the stipulation of a thing itself, it has many qualities.For the first thing is real, it is in itself; whatever is in it is in it as its own essence, and not for anything else.Therefore, secondly, those determinate qualities do not exist merely for something else, for something else, but in itself; but they are determinate qualities in the thing only because they are many of mutually distinct characteristics.Thirdly, When they are thus in things, they are for themselves and independent of each other.From this we can see that, really speaking, the white, cubic, and salty thing is the thing itself, or the thing is the aggregate of the two, or the common medium in which the Many qualities persist in addition to each other, without interfering with each other or canceling each other.To see things in this way is to see things as real [—this is how perception knows]. Now in the process of knowing this perception, consciousness is aware at the same time that it returns to itself, that is, it reflects itself again, and is aware that in perception the moment opposite to and appears.And this moment is the unity of the thing and itself, and various unity excludes difference from itself.Unity is thus what consciousness must count as its own, for the thing itself is the subsistence of many distinct and independent qualities.So we can say about things: it is white, it is cubic, and it is salty, etc.But positing these qualities as one is an activity of consciousness, which does not allow these qualities to become one in things.Consciousness, after all, makes a distinction by which, on the one hand, it distinguishes qualities from one another, and on the other hand it sees things as aggregates of qualities.It may well be said that the unity of things is first assumed by consciousness in such a way that what is called a quality is represented by consciousness as "free matter".In this way things are elevated to true aggregates, and being recognized as a substance or aggregate of matter, things are not a single entity, but a mere aggregate or shell comprising many qualities. ① "Free matter" is a term in Hegel's physics at that time. - translator If we try to review what consciousness previously counted as its own and what consciousness now counts as its own; It will be seen that consciousness alternately recognizes itself and now things as two sides: now as a pure unity, not containing many, now as a single matter or A collection of traits.Through various comparisons, the consciousness discovers that not only does its own understanding of truth contain two different links of grasping outward and returning to itself, but rather that truth or things also present themselves in these two different ways.We thus have the experience that the thing presents itself in a certain way to the knowing consciousness, but at the same time by presenting itself to the consciousness it returns to itself, in other words, the thing has something in itself. A truth that contains opposites. III. THE MOVEMENT TO THE UNCONDITIONAL UNIVERSAL AND INNOVATIVE AREAS Consciousness then goes beyond this second attitude toward perception, which considers things to be truly self-identical, and recognizes consciousness itself as the opposite of self-identity, returning to itself for the detached from self-identical things.Now for consciousness the object is this whole movement which was previously thought to belong partly to the object and partly to consciousness.The thing is one, it returns to itself; it is for itself, but it is for other, that is to say, not only to the other, it is an other, even to itself, it is also an other.So a thing is for itself and for others, it has a double and different existence, but it is also one.But its singleness contradicts this multiplicity; consciousness again must attribute to itself the positing of things as unity, and separate this positing of unity from things.Consciousness must therefore say that as long as a thing is for itself, it is not for him.But unity also belongs to the thing itself as experienced by consciousness.Things essentially return to themselves.Therefore, the one after the other, or the separate difference, may equally appear in the thing as well as in the unity, but since the thing is different from the unity, they do not appear in the same thing. , and appear in different things.The contradiction of [unity and difference] contained in general objective existence is assigned to the two objects.It is true, therefore, that things are self-for-and-for and self-equal, but this unity of self and self will be broken by other things; thus the unity of things is maintained, while other things outside things and outside consciousness Others are also maintained. Now although objectively existing contradictions are thus assigned to different things, the isolated individual things are still different in themselves.Different things are thus assumed to be for themselves.The mutual conflict of things is such that each thing is not different from itself, but only different from other things.But here each thing itself is defined as something different from the other, in which it contains an essential difference from the other, but this essential difference from the other is not an opposition in itself, but Rather, it is the simple determination which constitutes the quality of the essence which distinguishes it from the rest.In fact, since difference is within things, difference must be a real distinction of qualities within things.But because determinateness constitutes the essence of things, and because of essences, things are for themselves and different from other things, so those other qualities are non-essential.The meaning of the unity of things therefore undoubtedly involves two limitations, of unequal value, by which this opposition cannot become the real opposition of the thing itself; but when the thing passes through When it is in opposition to its absolute difference, it is opposed to an other outside it.Of course the other diverse qualities are still necessary in the thing, so they cannot be excluded from the thing, but they are not essential to the thing. This determination, which constitutes the essential property of things and distinguishes them from all others, is now assumed to be such that by virtue of this determination the thing is opposed to the other, but even in its opposition to the other the thing is Will preserve itself for its own sake.But the reason why a thing is a thing or a thing is a unity existing for itself is that it has no opposite relationship with other things; And being connected with other things is the cessation of being-for-itself.It is precisely because of this absolute character and its opposition to the other that it is related to the other, and it is essentially this relationship, and only this relationship, but to be related is the negation of its independence, so that it can rather be It is said that things tend towards destruction through the properties of their own essence. The necessity experienced by consciousness [in the course of its development], namely, that things tend to perish precisely by virtue of the very nature and determination of being-for-itself that constitutes it, may be briefly considered in terms of the simple concept of this necessity: .The thing is the negation posited as being-for-itself, or of everything else, and is therefore an absolute negation only in relation to itself; but the negation of itself in relation to itself is its sublation, that is, it Its essence is in other things. In fact, as a result of its own evolution, the concept of the object contains nothing else; the object should be an essential quality which constitutes its simple being-for-itself, but in this simple being-for-itself Existence has diversity within itself, and these qualities of diversity are indeed necessary, but they do not constitute essential determinants.But this is a distinction that exists only in words. That which is not essential but which is said to be necessary at the same time is tantamount to abolishing itself, in other words, it can also be called its own negation. In this way, the last "only cause" [or condition] that separates being-for-itself from being-for-his is completely withdrawn.Rather, from one and the same point of view, the object is its own opposite: it is for itself only because it is something else, and it is something else only because it is for itself.It is for-itself, it returns itself to itself, it is unity; but this for-itself, returning to itself, unity is inseparable from its opposite, from being-for-other, and is therefore only posited. In other words, this being-for-itself is as non-essential as the aspect that was originally considered to be only non-essential, that is, its relation to other things. Through this process, the object is also sublated in its pure determination, or in that determination which is said to constitute its essence, just as it becomes a sublated thing in its sensuous existence.Starting from sensuous existence the object becomes a universal; but since this universal comes out of the sensuous and is essentially conditioned by the sensuous, it is generally not a true self-equaling universal, but is governed by The generality of the infection of an opposite, which is thus separated into the extremes of individuality and universality, the identity of many qualities and the coexistence of free matter.These pure determinations seem to express essential properties, but they are only a being-for-itself with being-for-other; but being-for-other and being-for-itself are both essentially in one unity, the unconditional The absolute and absolute commonality appears, and here consciousness really enters the realm of understanding. In this way, the individuality of sensation disappears in the dialectical movement of immediate determinacy, and becomes the generality, but only the generality of sensation.The stage of signification disappears, and perception takes its place.Perception recognizes objects as things-in-itself, or as universals in general.In perception, therefore, individuality appears as real individuality, as the self-existence of the unity or as the existence returning to itself.But it is still a conditioned being-for-itself, alongside which another being-for-itself appears alongside it—a universality opposed to and conditioned by individuality; but these two contradictory Extremes, not only juxtaposed with each other, but in a unity, or in the same sense, a community of two extremes— Being-for-itself—generally with opposites, that is to say, it is not a being-for-itself at the same time.Perception plays a bit of sophistry trying to save it from these two moments in contradiction, and by making a distinction between two perceptions, and by using words like "and" or "just because," etc. Retained and fixed, finally trying to grasp the truth by distinguishing the non-essential aspect from its opposite essential aspect.But instead of dispelling the illusion in perception, these remedies show itself to be illusory.The truth attained by perception through this logic [dialectical development] is proving itself to be the opposite of what is expected, even from the same point of view—and thus is a truth of indiscriminate and nondetermined universality. of its essence. Individuality, universality as opposed to individuality, essence in relation to the non-essential, and the non-essential but at the same time necessary—all these abstractions are Forces, the interaction or mutual transformation of these forces constitute the perceptual understanding, which is usually called the healthy reason of man.This healthy intellect always regards itself as a consciousness with solid and real content, but in the stage of perception, it is only the mutual transformation of these abstract ideas; When it thinks it is the richest, it is generally the poorest.When it is played by these abstract and false ideas, and forced from one to another, it endeavors by its sophistry to insist and affirm alternately, now this idea, and now the opposite. The right idea, which itself opposes the truth everywhere, thinks that philosophy is only engaged in this kind of "thinking stuff", or is only a game of ideas.Philosophy is in fact engaged in the study of "things that think," and recognizes them as pure essences, as absolute forces and factors; masters, while that perceiving intellect takes them for truth, and is driven by them from error to error.It is not aware of itself that there are some simple essential properties governing it, and it always thinks that it is concerned with completely solid material and content, just as sensible certainty is unaware of its own essence is the empty and abstract pure existence. .But in fact the intellect of perception goes through all materials and contents and searches for them, and it is these abstractions on which it is based.They are the principles by which all matter and content are connected and governed, and they alone are recognized by consciousness as the essence of sensible things (which determines their relation to consciousness), and they are the movement of perception and the truth contained in perception. The medium in which it takes place.This process, the determination of truth and its sublation, which is always repeated, really constitutes the daily, constant life and activity of the perceiving intellect or of the consciousness which pretends to move in truth. .In this process it immediately leads without pause to the consequence of the abolishment of all essential properties or determinations equally, but at each particular time only this one determination is realized as truth, and at another In another period of time, another diametrically opposite determination is taken as truth.It is true that the perceptual intellect also doubted the non-essence of these determinations; in order to save them from this menacing danger, it resorted to sophistry, and now affirmed what it had just recognized as untrue. They are real.In truth, what the nature of these untruths would compel the perceiving intellect to do, was to unite, and thus to supersede, such opposite ideas as: the idea of ​​the universal and the particular, the idea of ​​the multiplicity. The idea of ​​a single, essential, necessarily connected with an unessential, and the idea of ​​a necessary unessential—these contradictory false ideas, by their very nature, demand the intellect of perception. Combines them, and thus supersedes them, but instead of doing so, it resorts to the limitations of words and different perspectives, or separates one idea from another by counting it as belonging to consciousness itself, Think of it as containing truth. But the very nature of these abstract ideas unites them by its own dialectics.But the so-called healthy intellect deprives abstractions of themselves of the dialectic which once compelled the perceptual intellect to go round and round between opposing abstractions.When healthy reason seeks to give truth to abstract ideas in this way, it now attributes their untruth to itself [error of perception], and at other times it attributes illusion to the unreliable and the falsities of indeterminate things, and sometimes distinguishing what is essential from what is not essential but necessary, and insisting on the former as their truth against the latter—when the intellect does so, It does not acquire the truth about those abstractions, but it proves its own untruth.