Hegel and the Symbolic Mediation of Spirit

313 Pages·2001·5.831 MB·English

by  Kathleen Dow Magnus

For e or y S ph n Houlg te
HEGEL
and the Symbolic
Mediation of Spirit

HEGEL
and the Symbolic
Mediation of Spirit
Kathleen Dow Magnus
STATE UNNERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Publishbeyd
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
MagnusK,a thleDeonw ,1 967-
Hegealn dt hes ymbolimce diatioofsn p irIi tK athleDeonw Magnus.
p.c m.-(SUNYs eriiensH egelisatnu dies)
Includbeisb liograprheifecraeln caensd i ndex.
ISBN0 -7914-50(45a-l7kp .a per)-IS0B-N7 914-5046-5
(pbk:. a lkp.a per)
1. HegelG,e orWgi lhelFmr iedri1c7h7,0 -18312.. S pirit­
History-1c9etnht uryI..T itleI.I .S eries
B2949.SM7354 2001
193-dc21 00-51020
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my parents,
Joann Gaffney Dow (d .1987)
and
Robert F. Dow, Jr.,
who have shown me the power of spirit
that is born of endurance.

Contents
Foreword by Stephen Houlgate XI
Acknowledgments xv
ANo te on the Textual Sources xvn
Abbreviations of Hegelian Texts Cited XIX
Introduction 1
I. Derrida's provocation 1
A. Metaphor and philosophy 4
B. Spirit's use of the sign 12
II. The need to consider the symbolic 25
A. Other commentators on Hegel and the
symbol 25
B. Spirit's symbolic self-determination in
the imagination, art, and religion 27
III. Hegel's idea of spirit 30
A. Neither right nor left 30
B. Spirit's identity and difference 33
Chapter One: The Symbol and the Sign in
Hegel's Philosophy 37
I. Basic terminology 38
A. The symbol and the sign in the Hegelian text 38
B. Twentieth-century understandings of the
symbol and the sign 48
Vll
Vlll Contents
II. Can philosophy conceive the symbolic? 52
A. Conscious symbolism of the comparative type 53
B. Metaphor in philosophical aesthetics 60
Chapter 'I\vo: The Means to Theoretical
Self-Determination 69
I. The rise of the symbol and sign-making capacities
(Or, does spirit consume the sensuous?) 73
A. Intuition (Anschauung) 75
B. Representation (Vorstellung) 78
II. From symbol to sign: a different kind of difference
(Or, is the sign a transparent means of spirit?) 83
A. The imagination's creation of symbols
and signs 85
B. The importance of the sign and the symbol 89
III. Signs of memory ( Gediichtnis) and language
(Sprache) (Or, how does the intelligence
determine the "other"?) 94
A. Nam es, meaning, and existence 96
B. The symbol and the sign as elements
of language 98
IV. The loss of meaning and the transition to thought
(Or, how can spirit make itself be?) 101
A. Mechanical memory 102
B. Spirit's theoretical determination 105
Chapter Three: Spirit's Symbolic Self-Presentation
in.Art 111
I. Art in general 113
A. Art as the presentation of spirit 113
B. Art as symbolic 114
C. Art as necessary and dissolving 118
II. The symbolic form of art 120
A. Symbolic art's lack with respect to
art's ideal 120
Contents IX
B. The different forms of symbolic art 122
C. The importance of these symbolic forms 132
III. The classical form of art 134
A. The supersession of symbolic art's deficiencies 134
B. Symbolic elements of classical art 139
IV. The romantic form of art 146
A. Romantic art as a spiritual advance 146
B. Symbolic elements of romantic art 153
v. The "end" of art? 162
A. Art's dissolution 162
B. Art's (symbolic) absoluteness 164
Chapter Four: Spirit's Symbolic Self-Representation
in Religion 169
I. Religious consciousness as symbolic 173
A. Pre-representational forms of religious
consc10usness 173
B. Religious representation and the symbolic 175
II. Symbolic elements of finite religions 181
A. Indian religion, the religion of imagination
(Phantasie) 183
B. Egyptian religion, the religion of riddles
(Riitsel) 187
C. Greek religion, the religion of beauty
(Schonheit) 190
D. Jewish religion, the religion of sublimity
(Erhabenheit) 193
III. Symbolic elements of absolute religion 197
A. Absolute versus finite religions 197
B. The Christian conception of the trinity 200
C. The Christian conception of the incarnation 203
D. Community, tradition, and interpretation 205
IV. The human, the divine, and the symbolic 209
A. The need for the symbolic 209
B. The unity of the human and the divine 213