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The ''Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences'' (abbreviated as ''EPS'' or simply ''Encyclopaedia''; german: Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften im Grundrisse, ''EPW'', translated as ''Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Basic Outline'') by
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
(first published in 1817, second edition 1827, third edition 1830), is a work that presents an abbreviated version of Hegel's systematic philosophy in its entirety, and is the only form in which Hegel ever published his entire mature philosophical system. The fact that the account is exhaustive, that the grounding structures of reality are ideal, and that the system is closed makes the ''Encyclopedia'' a statement par excellence of
absolute idealism Absolute idealism is an ontologically monistic philosophy chiefly associated with G. W. F. Hegel and Friedrich Schelling, both of whom were German idealist philosophers in the 19th century. The label has also been attached to others such as Jos ...
. Intended as a pedagogical aid for attendees of his lectures, Hegel revised and extended the ''Encyclopedia'' over more than a decade, but stressed its role as a "textbook" in need of elucidation through oral commentary. The 1830 text is widely available in various English translations with copious additions (''Zusätze'') added posthumously by Hegel's students, deriving from their lecture notes. These additions expand on the text with examples and illustrations, and while scholars do not take the ''Zusätze'' to be verbatim transcription of Hegel's lectures, their more informal and non-technical style make them good stand-ins for the "necessary oral commentary". Part I of the work is sometimes referred to as the ''Lesser Logic'' (or ''Shorter Logic'') to distinguish it from the ''Greater Logic'', the moniker given to Hegel's ''
Science of Logic ''Science of Logic'' (''SL''; german: Wissenschaft der Logik, ''WdL''), first published between 1812 and 1816, is the work in which Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel outlined his vision of logic. Hegel's logic is a system of ''dialectics'', i.e., a ...
''.


Structure

The ''Encyclopedia'' has three main parts, each of which is further subdivided, which together purport to cover all the fundamental aspects of reality, and form a closed systematic unity. # Science of Logic ## Being ## Essence ## Concept (''Begriff,'' or notion) # Science of Nature ## Mechanics ## Physics ## Organics # Science of
Geist ''Geist'' () is a German noun with a significant degree of importance in German philosophy. Its semantic field corresponds to English ghost, spirit, mind, intellect. Some English translators resort to using "spirit/mind" or "spirit (mind)" to h ...
## Subjective ## Objective ## Absolute Spirit Hegel is careful to methodically derive each category of reality ('thought-determination') from its predecessor notion, with the completed system bringing the circle to a close, demonstrating its unity.


Overview

The work describes the pattern of the Idea as manifesting itself in
dialectical Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to ...
reasoning. While some believe that the philosophy of nature and mind are applications of the
logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
, this is a misunderstanding. The purpose of the ''Encyclopedia'' is descriptive: to describe how the idea (or reason) develops itself and not to apply the dialectical method to all areas of
human knowledge Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinc ...
, but the Idea is in process of growing, like a seed growing into a mature tree: it passes through stages. The first stage of the idea's development is described in the Logic. Thus the Logic presents the categories of
thought In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, a ...
as they are in themselves; they are the minimal conditions for thinking anything at all, the conceptions that run in the background of all our thinking. For Hegel, unlike Kant, reason is not just "for us", but rather it is immanent within being. The rational alone is real, and is the substrate of all things. In order to get at what a thing ''is'', we must think about it. No amount of observing will bring us to the
essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it lo ...
of things. Thinking and being are equivalent, and so logic and
metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of consci ...
are equivalent as well. As the idea works itself out more fully, it reaches the point where it simply cannot remain as it is; it is incomplete, and therefore it "others" itself; this is where the philosophy of nature emerges. When this stage of its development is completed, the idea "returns" to itself, which is the emergence of the philosophy of mind, or Geist, out of nature. Spirit is reason become self-conscious of itself as reason. Hegel coined the term "diamond net" in the book. He said, “the entire range of the universal determinations of thought… into which everything is brought and thereby first made intelligible.”
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
, ''Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature (Being Part Two of the Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences, 1830),'' trans. A.V. Miller (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970), §246.
In other words, the diamond net of which Hegel speaks are the logical categories according to which we understand our experience, thus making our empirical observations intelligible.


English translations

English translations of all three parts are available from
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
(Part One: ''Hegel's Logic'', 1975; Part Two: ''Hegel's Philosophy of Nature'', 2004; Part Three: ''Hegel's Philosophy of Mind'', 1970), with each part bound as a separate book. An English translation of the first part is also available from Cambridge University Press: ''Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Basic Outline, Part I: Science of Logic'', translated by Klaus Brinkmann, Daniel O. Dahlstrom (Cambridge University Press, 2010).


Notes


Bibliography

*''The Encyclopaedia Logic: Part 1 of the Encyclopaedia of Philosophical Sciences'', trans. T. F. Geraets, W. A. Suchting, and H. S. Harris (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1991). *''Philosophy of Nature (Part Two of the Encyclopaedia of Philosophical Sciences)'', trans. Michael John Petry, 3 vols., (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1970). *''Hegel's Philosophy of Mind: Being Part Three of the Encyclopaedia of Philosophical Sciences'', trans. William Wallace (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971).


External links

*
E-text of ''Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften im Grundrisse''


* ttp://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/ol/encycind.htm Hegel's ''Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Outline'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Encyclopedia Of The Philosophical Sciences 1817 non-fiction books Works by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Logic literature 19th-century encyclopedias