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第166章

phenomenology of mind-第166章

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heirloom handed down by tradition。 In this way there is retained and preserved only what is purely
external in belief; and the retention of it as something dead and devoid of knowledge; while the
inner element in belief has passed away; because this would be the notion knowing itself as notion。

The Absolute Spirit; as pictured in the element of pure essential Being; is not indeed the abstract
pure essential Being; rather; just by the fact that this is merely a moment in the life of Spirit;
abstract essential Being has sunk to the level of a mere element (in which Spirit lives)。 The
representation of Spirit in this element; however; has inherently the same defect; as regards form;
which essential Being as such has。 Essential Being is abstraction; and; therefore; the negative of its
simplicity; is an other: in the same way; Spirit in the element of essential Being is the form of
simple unity; which; on that account; is just as essentially a process of becoming something else。
Or; what is the same thing; the relation of the eternal Being to its self…existence; (its objective
existence for Itself); is that of pure thought; an immediately simple relation。 In this simple beholding
of itself in the Other; otherness therefore is not as such set up independently; it is distinction in the
way of distinction; in pure thought; is immediately no distinction…a recognition of Love; where lover
and beloved are by their very nature not opposed to each other at all。 Spirit; which is expressed in
the element of pure thought; is essentially just this: not to be merely in that element; but to be
concrete; actual; for otherness itself; i。e。 cancelling and superseding its own pure
thought…constituted notion; lies in the very notion of Spirit。

The element of pure thought; because it is an abstract element; is itself rather the other of its own
simplicity; and hence passes over into the proper element of imagination — the element where the
moments of the pure notion at once acquire a substantial existence in opposition to each other and
are subjects as well; which do not exist in indifference towards each other; merely for a third; but;
being reflected into themselves; break away from one another and stand confronting each other。

Merely eternal; or abstract Spirit; then; becomes an other to itself: it enters existence; and; in the
first instance; enters immediate existence。 It creates a World。 This 〃Creation〃 is the word which
pictorial thought uses to convey the notion itself in its absolute movement; or to express the fact
that the simple which has been expressed as absolute; or pure thought; just because it is abstract;
is really the negative; and hence opposed to itself; the other of itself; or because; to state the same
in yet another way; what is put forward as essential Being is simple immediacy; bare existence; but
qua immediacy or existence; is without Self; and; lacking thus inwardness; is passive; or exists for
another。 This existence for another is at the same time a world。 Spirit; in the character of existing
for another; is the undisturbed separate subsistence of those moments formerly enclosed within
pure thought; is; therefore; the dissolution of their simple universality; and their dispersion into their
own particularity。

The world; however; is not merely Spirit thus thrown out and dispersed into the plenitude of
existence and the external order imposed on it; for since Spirit is essentially the simple Self; this
self is likewise present therein。 The world is objectively existent spirit; which is individual self; that
has consciousness and distinguishes itself as other; as world; from itself。 In the way this individual
self is thus immediately established at first it is not yet conscious of being Spirit; it thus does not
exist as Spirit; it may be called 〃innocent〃; but not strictly 〃good〃。 In order that in fact it may be self
and Spirit; it has first to become objectively an other to itself; in the same way that the Eternal
Being manifests itself as the process of being self…identical in its otherness。 Since this spirit is
determined as yet only as immediately existing; or dispersed into the diverse multiplicity of its
conscious life; its becoming 〃other〃 means that knowledge concentrates itself upon itself。
Immediate existence turns into thought; or merely sense…consciousness turns round into
consciousness of thought; and; moreover; because that thought has come from immediacy or is
conditioned thought; it is not pure knowledge; but thought which contains otherness; and is; thus;
the self…opposed thought of good and evil。 Man is pictorially represented by the religious mind in
this way: it happened once as an event; with no necessity about it; that he lost the form of
harmonious unity with himself by plucking the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil;
and was driven from the state of innocence; from Paradise; from the garden with all its creatures;
and from nature offering its bounties without man's toil。

Since this self…concentration on the part of the existent consciousness has straightway the
character of becoming discordant with itself; Evil appears as the first actual expression of the
self…concentrated consciousness。 And because the thoughts of good and evil are utterly opposed;
and this opposition is not yet broken down; this consciousness is essentially and merely evil。 At the
same time; however; owing to just this very opposition; there is present also the good
consciousness opposing the one that is evil; and again their relation to each other。 In so far as
immediate existence turns round into thought; and self…concentration is partly itself thought; while
partly again the transition to otherness on the part of the inner self (Wesen); is thereby more
precisely determined; — the fact of becoming evil can be removed further backwards away out of
the actually existing world and transferred to the very earliest realm of thought。 It may thus be said
that it was the very first…born Son of Light 'Lucifer' who; by becoming self…concentrated; fell; but
that in his place another was at once created。 Such a form of expression as 〃fallen〃; belonging
merely to figurative thought; and not to the notion; just like the term 〃Son〃; either (we may say)
transmutes and lowers the moments of the notion to the level of imaginative thought; or transfers
pictures 'into the realm of thought。

In the same way; it is matter of indifference to coordinate a multiplicity of other shapes and
forms(12) with the simple thought of otherness in the Being of the Eternal; and transfer to them that
condition of self…concentration。 This co…ordination must; all the same; win approval; for the reason
that; through it; this moment of otherness does express diversity; as it should do: not indeed as
plurality in general; but as determinate diversity; so that one part is the Son; that which is simple
and knows itself to be essential Being; while the other part is the abandonment; the emptying; of
self…existence; and merely lives to praise that Being。 To this part may then also be assigned the
resumption once again of the self…existence relinquished; and that 〃self…centredness〃 characteristic
of evil。 In so far as this condition of otherness falls into two parts; Spirit might; as regards its
moments; be more exactly expressed numerically as a Quaternity; a four in one; or (because the
multiplicity breaks up itself again into two parts; viz。 one part which has remained good; the other
which has become evil); might even be expressed as a Quinity。

Counting the moments; however; can be regarded as altogether useless; since; for one thing; what
is distinguished is itself just as truly one and single…viz。 The thought of distinction which is only one
thought…as the thought is this element distinguished; the second over against the first。 For another
thing it is useless to count; because the thought which grasps the many in one has to be dissolved
out of its universality and must be distinguished into more than three or four distinct components。
This universality appears; in contrast to the absolute determinateness of the abstract unit…the
principle of number…as indetermi

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