[Question 1]
Explain the idea of "freedom" made use of in this passage.
¡¡
¡°That
man is free by Nature is quite correct in one sense; viz., that he is so
according to the Idea of Humanity; but we imply thereby that lie is such only in
virtue of his destiny - that he has an undeveloped power to become such; for the
"Nature" of an object is exactly synonymous with its
"Idea."¡¦ Freedom as the ideal of that which is original and
natural, does not exist as original and natural. Rather must it be
first sought out and won; and that by an incalculable medial discipline of the
intellectual and moral powers. To
the Ideal of Freedom, Law and Morality are indispensably requisite: and they are
in and for themselves, universal existences, objects and aims; which are
discovered only by the activity of thought, separating itself from the merely
sensuous, and developing itself, in opposition thereto; and which must on the
other hand, be introduced into and incorporated with the originally sensuous
will, and that contrarily to its natural inclination.¡±
(Hegel, Philosophy
of History, p.40-1)
¡¡
Hegel writes, ¡°The "Nature" of an object is exactly synonymous with its "Idea"¡±(Hegel, PH, p.40). In this sentence, ¡®an object¡¯ should be restricted to organized objects. For Hegel, only organized objects can develop itself into more complete one, while merely natural objects display self-repeating cycle(Ibid. p.54-55). For Him, the nature of an object is its Idea, i.e. the full realization of its concept which, at the beginning, only existed as mere potentiality and as an initial plan. This insistence of Hegel inherits that of Aristotle. Aristotle writes in his Politics, ¡°Nature is an end; for we say that each thing¡¯s nature¡¦is the character it has when its coming-into-being has been completed¡±(Aristotle, Politics, p.3, ch.2, Book1). Also, we can find the similar opinion from Engels¡¯ view over the nature of commodity production. As he criticizes Proudhon for eternalizing the laws of property based on commodity production, Engels insists that the nature of commodity production fully unfold its potentialities when commodity production undergoes a complete development into the stage of capitalist production through incorporating workers as commodities(Karl Marx, Capital I, p.733)
For
Hegel, at the beginning, every organism has telos, i.e. a final cause
like a germ, which guides its afterward development to an end. Figuratively
speaking, telos is like a human baby who has potential to grow up to a
human adult rather than another animal adult. This notion of telos does
not exclude a variety of an organism, i.e. particularity. On the contrary, the
diversity is an indispensable condition for realizing the telos. And telos
should not be understood as a direct cause which directly determines or promises
the full development of an organism. The realization of potentiality needs a
middle term of Syllogism, i.e. mediation; the realizing activity of an organism
itself which relates itself with external objects and translates potentiality
into reality.
The following sentence shows us that Hegel applies the above organist view to the human nature. For him, human history is the process by which freedom as potential human nature comes into being objectively and subjectively by man¡¯s own self-mediating activities and efforts.
¡°That
man is free by Nature is quite correct in one sense; viz., that he is so
according to the Idea of Humanity; but we imply thereby that lie is such only in
virtue of his destiny - that he has an undeveloped power to become such; for the
"Nature" of an object is exactly synonymous with its
"Idea."¡¦ Freedom as the ideal of that which is original and
natural, does not exist as original and natural. Rather must it be
first sought out and won; and that by an incalculable medial discipline of the
intellectual and moral powers. (Hegel, PH, p.40-1)
This view of Hegel on human nature is different from Hobbes¡¯s atomic view, according to which each isolated individual has immutable and inherent nature characterized by selfish mutual competition for self-gain, mutual diffidence for self-safety and glory for self-reputation. For Hegel, human nature can be changed and developed from merely animal existence into a second nature though realizing man¡¯s potentiality. Also Hegel¡¯s view is contrasted with Rousseau¡¯s view. Even though, as Hegel does, Rousseau thinks that human nature has changed by historical development of civil society, and he regards free self-determined action as a human nature, he contrasts ¡®natural liberty¡¯ in the state of nature with ¡®civil or moral liberty¡¯ which is limited by the general will in the civil state. For him, savage men enjoyed full freedom in the state of nature. However, for Hegel, this natural liberty of savage men merely means the liberty of men¡¯s brutal and capricious instincts, in other words, men¡¯s servitude to their natural whimsical instincts and to the overwhelming nature. Also, Hegel is critic of another view that regards human history as restlessly changing process without development and goal.
Furthermore,
Hegel emphasizes that the process of realizing human potentiality differs from
that of other organicism in the some respects. The process in human history
involves alienation of human essence(or human nature). While in the case of
other organicism the process is peaceful, in the process of human history, the
human rationality ¡°separates itself from the merely
sensuous, and developing itself, at war against that¡± (Ibid. p.41).
Human freedom can be realized by overcoming this alienation and unifying two
extremes.
What does Hegel mean human freedom? For Hegel, a person is free only if he/she is independent and self-determining, not determined by or dependent on someone or something other than himself/herself. History has shown that the conflicts among private interests of the community members and between the private interests and the common interest of the community has prevented each members from being perfectly independent and self-determining. For Hegel, the idea of freedom can be realized through a community. Only when the common interest of the community and the private interest of its members are harmoniously unified; when the one finds its gratification and realization in the other(Ibid. p.24), human freedom can be realized. For Hegel, the Kant¡¯s notion that freedom can be attained by control and submission of private interests to universal laws signifies merely one-sided freedom, i.e. objective freedom at the expense of subjective freedom. Also, the predominance of subjective freedom over society leads to the war against every man. The two-sides¡¯ freedom should be unified for realizing the ideal of freedom. And this unification requires Morality and Law in a state.
To
the Ideal of Freedom, Law and Morality are indispensably requisite: and they are
in and for themselves, universal existences, objects and aims; which are
discovered only by the activity of thought, separating itself from the merely
sensuous, and developing itself, in opposition thereto; and which must on the
other hand, be introduced into and incorporated with the originally sensuous
will, and that contrarily to its natural inclination.¡±
(Ibid. p.41)
Morality
is the unity of universal will and individual will; a second nature of man which
solves contradiction between the merely sensuous and rational thought; the
capacity of feeling oneness with a Whole within his/her individuality. Living
moral life, all actions of every man can naturally meet his/her particular needs
and interest and, at the same time, the common needs and interests of the
community. In addition, man must establish Law which is objectified universal
rational will, which guides the actions of free citizen, and, thus, the
objectified existence of freedom. Morality and Law are in
and for themselves, i.e. the actualities of the potential freedom.
How
the Idea of Freedom can be proved to be true for Hegel? ¡°In his philosophy,
the relation of an object to its truth is an actual happening(Geschehen)¡±(Marcuse,
Reason and Revolution, p.98). Only the realization of Freedom by man himself can
prove that Freedom as human essence is the Truth. Before the realization, the
notion of Freedom can be proved only as the Idea of Freedom, i.e. as the
inherent aim of man. For Hegel, The known history of mankind seems to prove the
truth of the Idea of Freedom¡±(Ibid. p.99). For him, the known human history
shows us that man has thought distinctive from other animals. Because
¡°an organ which is not meant for use or an arrangement which does not fulfill
its purpose is a contradiction in the teleological theory of nature(Kant,
Kant¡¯s Political Writings, p.42)¡±, it proves the truth. Secondly, human
history shows us that the human rationality has developed into objective form as
the state through a long discipline of man, even though the state is not yet
perfect. However, as long as the state is the political expression of human
servitude as Marx insists, the second proof becomes weak. The effort for this
proof continued by Marx¡¯s materialism. As long as man is being who
self-determines and pursues his/her purpose, he/she needs certain kind of Idea.
Is it true that ¡°mankind always sets itself only
such tasks as it can solve¡±(Karl Marx, Preface in A Contribution to the
Critique of Political Economy, 1859)?
Works Cited
Hegel, the Philosophy of History (PH), translated by J. Sibree, Prometheus Books, 1991
Karl Marx, Capital I, translated by Ben Fowkes, Penguin Books, 1976
Aristotle, Politics, translated by C.D.C Reeve, Heckett Publishing, 1998
Kant, Kant¡¯s Political Writings, translated by Hans Reiss, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Herbert Marcuse, Reason and Revolution, Oxford University Press, 1960