Single Idea 5647

[catalogued under 16. Persons / A. Concept of a Person / 4. Persons as Agents]

Full Idea

Hegel seems to argue that the immediate knowledge of self (the Cartesian premise) presupposes the activity that constitutes the self, and this presupposes desire, and hence the knowledge of objects.

Gist of Idea

Hegel claims knowledge of self presupposes desire, and hence objects

Source

report of Georg W.F.Hegel (Phenomenology of Spirit [1807]) by Roger Scruton - Short History of Modern Philosophy Ch.12

Book Reference

Scruton,Roger: 'A Short History of Modern Philosophy' [ARK 1985], p.177


A Reaction

This hardly amounts to an argument, but I find it quite sympathetic as a claim. It fits comfortably with modern externalist accounts of thought. While solipsism seems a logical possibility, it hardly amounts to a coherent account of mental life.