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Full Idea
It is only to the extent that we can say that something is not, that we can say what it actually is.
Gist of Idea
To grasp an existence, we must consider its non-existence
Source
report of Georg W.F.Hegel (Science of Logic [1816]) by Stephen Houlgate - An Introduction to Hegel 02 'From indeterminate'
Book Ref
Houlgate,Stephen: 'An Introduction to Hegel' [Blackwell 2005], p.35
A Reaction
A key idea for Hegel, but it leaves me flat. Thinking about the non-being of something throws no light at all for me on the inexpressible actuality of its existence.