HEGEL - MIND

<BODY> <CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>HEGEL</FONT><BR> THE ABSOLUTE IDEALIST</B></FONT></CENTER><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Mind over Matter</B></FONT><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>THE MIND OF THE PEOPLE</B></FONT><BR> "All value that a man has, all spiritual reality, he has only through the state... No individual can step beyond it; he can separate himself certainly from other individuals but not from the Spirit of the People."<BR> For Hegel, the Nation State is a great organic totality. Through family and education, a man becomes inculcated with the ethical ideals and fundamental beliefs that find expression in the Mind or Spirit of the People. They are internalized, an essential part of him. The Mind or Spirit of the People is expressed through the nation's language, culture and institutions. Thus Man finds his greatest happiness and freedom when he becomes conscious that his personal ideals match those of the state.<P> ("Reason in History")<P> <TABLE ALIGN=Left BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1> <TR> <TD><IMG ALIGN=Left SRC="1607a.jpg" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="180" ALT="SUPREME BEING"></TD> </TR> </TABLE> While to the modern mind, the concept of the nation state may seem divorced from the ideals of revolution and freedom, this was not so to the 18th century mind. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, Robespierre created a cult of the Supreme Being, a republican deity that embodied civic virtue and opposition to tyranny. This contemporary engraving depicts choirs of citizens singing hymns of praise to the Supreme Being.<BR clear=left><BR> <FONT SIZE=4><B>ABSOLUTE MIND</B></FONT><BR> <A HREF="../15/15f01.html" TARGET="_top">Kant's</A> concept of the individual mind constructing reality was extended by <A HREF="../t06/t06f28.html" TARGET="_top">Schelling</A> who postulated a Universal Mind or Geist. Hegel expands this further into a system of thought that explains all of reality in terms of such an Absolute Mind which reveals itself to our finite minds in every area of human knowledge. Absolute Mind is a unified totality of all rational truth. It is a unity-in-diversity, organising all areas of knowledge and experience into a coherent whole. Study of the diverse areas of human knowledge reveals aspects of reality. Full understanding of reality will involve uncovering the underlying rational structure, the totality of Mind. This is Absolute <A HREF="../t03/g024.html" TARGET="_top">Idealism</A>. <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>