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External or Intrinsic Purpose—What comes first? On Hegel's Treatment of Teleology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2023

Christian Spahn
Christian Spahn*
Affiliation:
Keimyung University, Daegu, Republic of Korea
*
christian.spahn@gmail.com
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Abstract

Hegel's philosophy of biology is one of the strongest chapters of Hegel's Philosophy of Nature. It can be argued that Hegel's understanding of organicity underscores the explanatory power of ‘dialectical thinking’, as Hegel himself claims. Hegel's interpretation of organicity is based upon the logical development of categories in his chapter on Objectivity of his Logic. If we compare Hegel's treatment of teleology in the Logic with his interpretation of organicity in his Philosophy of Nature, a mismatch can be found. In the Logic, Hegel introduces the notion of life (Leben) after the chapter on Objectivity, i.e. after elaborating on external teleology. In his Philosophy of Nature, the notion of the inner purposiveness of organicity belongs to the externality of nature. This article compares Hegel's treatment of teleology in his Logic and his Philosophy of Nature, reconstructs possible explanations for mismatches and offers a possible solution to the question whether the notion of life should be regarded as the last part of the chapter on teleology or the first part of the chapter on the Idea.

Type
Research Article
Information
Hegel Bulletin , Volume 44 , Special Issue 1: Hegel and Teleology , April 2023 , pp. 194 - 218
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Hegel Society of Great Britain

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