Dialectical Logic and Self-consciousness: Some Preliminary Remarks on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit and Science of Logic

The purpose of this note is to explore briefly the role that a dialectical development of logical understanding and consciousness plays in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit with some references to his Science of Logic. The role played by the logic of ontological development is emphasized. Furthermore, the role of human laboring activity in particular in Hegel is singled out as an area where thinking can redirect itself to return from the heights of speculative thought to a this-worldly development of freedom through a series of internal and dialectical contradictions. In line with this approach, Hegel's non-atomistic characterization of the individual in society can also be seen in a new light.