Perhaps one of the most difficult passages in Hegel's Science of Logic is his treatment of contradiction. If each moment of Hegel's logic is understood to constitute a sort of proof and since contradiction itself is presented as a moment of the logic, then in what sense can one comprehend a proof of contradiction as such? It is difficult to formulate this in any way that does not sound fundamentally incoherent, since it is not just at odds with our ordinary (...) way of thinking but also with the overwhelming majority of the Western philosophical tradition. The basic problem, essentially, is this: if Hegel's logic includes contradiction as one of its moments, then how is Hegel's entire philosophical project not simply incoherent? In the first part of this article, I will attempt to demonstrate one way in which Hegel's treatment of contradiction could in fact be considered coherent, through a close reading of the relevant passages. In this reading, I will particularly focus on the function of Hegel's dialectical concept of sublation (aufheben), and attempt to show (by example) how analysing Hegel's nuanced use of sublation can help us to work through some of his logic's complexities. The overall purpose here will be to present a systematic (as opposed to historical) exposition of Hegel's concept of contradiction and to illustrate the important role that this concept (as the contradiction of contradiction) plays in Hegel's logical method. (shrink)

INTRODUCTION 1 GENERAL REMARKS 1 OUTLINE OF THE PROJECT 5 PART I: STRUCTURE 8 CHAPTER 1: DEFINITIONS 8 A. POSITIVE DEFINITIONS 8 Remark: On Translating Aufheben 13 B. NEGATIVE DEFINITIONS 15 1. Negation 16 2. Synthesis 18 3. Irony 21 CHAPTER 2: USAGE 24 A. FREQUENCY 24 Table 1. Number of Occurrences of the Various Forms 26 Table 2. Summary of the Information on the Different Volumes 26 Table 3. Results of the Regression Analysis 29 B. SYNTAX 35 C. CONTEXT (...) 38 Transition to Part II 41 PART II: FUNCTION 42 CHAPTER 3: BEING, NOTHING, AND BECOMING 42 A. BEING AND NOTHING 45 Remark: On the Transitions in Hegel's Logic 48 B. BECOMING 50 CHAPTER 4: IDENTITY, DIFFERENCE, AND CONTRADICTION 57 A. IDENTITY 59 1.Identity 59 2. Essential Identity 61 B. DIFFERENCE, DIVERSITY, AND OPPOSITION 65 1. Absolute Difference 65 2. Diversity 68 3. Opposition 70 C. CONTRADICTION 73 1. First Explanation 74 2. Second Explanation 84 CHAPTER 5: THE SYSTEM AND ITS MOMENTS 93 A. SYSTEM 93 B. IDEA 96 C. FORM AND METHOD 100 Transition to Part III 108 PART III: CRITIQUE 109 CHAPTER 6: INTERNAL CRITIQUE 109 A. DEFINITIONS 109 B. ANALYSIS 118 CHAPTER 7: EXTERNAL CRITIQUE 128 A. DEFINITIONS 128 B. ANALYSIS 139 Remark: On Transcendence 142 Phenomenological Examples 143 1. Anxiety 143 2. Trust 144 3. Hope 146 CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONS 156 A. METHODOLOGY 156 B. OBJECTIVES 165 C. SIGNIFICANCE 169 PART IV: SUPPLEMENTAL 181 Data Tables: Frequency Analysis 181 Table 2. Summary of the Information on the Different Volumes 181 Table 3. Results of the Regression Analysis 181 A Comparison of the First and Second Editions 182 First Edition, Paragraph 1 182 Second Edition, Paragraph 1 182 First Edition, Paragraph 2 183 Second Edition, Paragraph 2 183 First Edition, Paragraph 2.5 183 First Edition, Paragraph 3 184 Second Edition, Paragraph 3 184 Aufheben: A Brief Historical Overview 185 General 185 Kant 185 Schiller 186 Marx 188 Bibliography 191 Notes On Citations 191 Works Cited 191 Works Consulted 193. (shrink)