Kant’s And Hegel’s Solutions To "The Problem Of The Identity Of Thinking And Being" And Their Similarities And Differences

The issue of the relationship between thinking and being has always been an important issue in the history of philosophy.This article will sort out the views of philosophers of various eras on this issue,focusing on analyzing and comparing the views of Kant and Hegel on this issue.The ideas of this article are as follows: First,it discusses the issue of the identity of thinking and being itself and its evolution.Second,it discusses Kant’s solution to the problem of the identity of thinking and being.Third,it discusses Hegel’s solution to this problem.Fourth,it summarizes the similarities and differences between the two programs.This article is divided into four parts: The first part discusses the problem of the identity of thinking and being itself and its evolution.According to Marxist philosophy,this question refers to,on the one hand,which of thinking and being,spirit and matter is the original,that is,which is the primary question.Is the essence and foundation of the world spiritual or material? Is the world unified with matter or spirit? That is,the problem of unity in the world.When distinguishing "being" into "material being" and "spiritual being",thinking and spiritual being are homogeneous.Therefore,the question of which is the primary nature of spirit and material can be raised.On the other hand,it refers to the question of whether there is identity between thinking and being,that is,the question of whether people’s thinking can be understood and how to understand the real world(epistemological question).It involves issues such as the nature of cognition,the possibility of cognition and its realization.We distinguish "being" into "material being" and "spiritual being ",and the question becomes "is there any identity between thinking and matter"(heterogeneous question)and "is there identity between thinking and spiritual being "(homogeneous Question)two questions.Both of these issues are epistemological issues.The core question here is: is the object(world)knowable,that is,is it knowable or agnostic? According to Kant,after dividing the object or the world into the phenomenon and the ontology(essence),this question is further subdivided into: Is the phenomenon known or unknowable? Is the ontology(essence)a question of knowable or unknowable? Based on the above division,the author will briefly outline the historical evolution of "the problem of the identity of thinking and being",and discusses the influence of rationalism and empiricism on Kant on this issue.The rationalist viewpoint has influenced Kant: Kant seeks the form in which knowledge produces universal necessity in the subject.This innate thinking comes from rationalism.Empiricists Locke and Hume believed that entities are unknowable,and we can only recognize the sensible nature(phenomenon)of things,because entities cannot be directly perceived,which may have led to Kant’s division of phenomena and ontology.The second part mainly discusses Kant’s solution to the problem of the identity of thinking and being.Although Kant did not explicitly raise the issue of "the identity of thinking and being," his epistemology actually involved this issue.In this chapter,we will discuss two questions: 1.How is it possible to recognize phenomena in Kant’s view?Answering the basis of the possibility of understanding phenomena will solve the problem of the identity of thinking and being in the field of phenomena.2.Why does Kant think that it is impossible to know the ontology or the things in themselves? That is,why can’t the unity of thinking and being be realized in the field of ontology? This is the problem of demarcation in the field of knowledge.Kant did not solve this problem in accordance with the traditional thinking of the subject of knowledge and the object of knowledge(such as empiricism and rationalism),but converted the opposition and unity of the subject of knowledge and the object of knowledge into thinking forms and sensory materials and objects.The opposition and unity of(phenomenon and things in themselves)are unique to Kant,and this is Kant’s "transcendental thinking" or "transcendental philosophy." Through such "transcendental thinking",Kant solves the problem of the identity of thinking and existence in the field of phenomena,and denied the possibility of solving the problem of the identity of thinking and being in the realm of ontology(things in itself),leaving the realm of ontology to Philosophy of practice(moral philosophy)and theology(faith).The third part discusses Hegel’s solution to this problem.Unlike Kant,Hegel is consciously trying to solve the problem of the identity of thinking and being.His content includes the identity of ontology and the identity of epistemology.Moreover,Hegel’s solution to this problem is based on the criticism of Kant’s theoretical philosophy.This part discusses two contents: Hegel’s critique of Kant’s solution and Hegel’s own solution are discussed separately.The first level is to discuss Hegel’s critique of Kant’s solution.First,Hegel criticized Kant’s category theory.Hegel believes that Kant’s category is inherently subjective.Thinking needs to transition from the intellectual stage to the rational stage,and in this process,it is possible to grasp the infinite.The category staying in the intellectual stage is poor and does not have the ability to grasp the infinite,but the category that transitions to the rational stage has the ability to grasp the infinite.The category of the rational stage is not only the prescriptive nature of thinking,but also the prescriptive nature of the thing itself.Secondly,Hegel criticized Kant’s "thing-in-itself" and agnosticism.Hegel believed that Kant’s "thing-in-itself" was abstract and impoverished.His reason is that the infinite is not something that cannot be grasped,but it is waiting for human reason to grasp it.Hegel criticized Kant’s theory of the thing-in-itself,thinking that the view that the thing-in-itself is unknowable is wrong.In response to Kant’s criticism of transcendental ideas(the three traditional entities),Hegel made a counter-criticism.The core of their contest is how to understand the concept of "being" and how to understand the identity of thinking and being.On the second level,discuss Hegel’s own solution.The first is the understanding of "being",which is its theoretical premise.Hegel and Kant have different understandings.The "being " understood by Kant is the perceptual existence of time and space,and Hegel’s "being " is the logical being.Hegel believes that the "existence" referred to by Kant is based on Hegel’s concept of "being",and that the former can be derived from the latter.At the level of ontology,Hegel believes that the world is unified in "absolute spirit",therefore,the essence of the world is spiritual.At the epistemological level,Hegel believes that the "identity of thinking and being" is the process by which the absolute spirit knows itself dialectically and forward.The fourth part is the conclusion,a brief summary and comment on the similarities and differences between the two solutions.The difference between the two is that Kant’s plan is pluralistic and agnostic,while Hegel’s plan is monistic and knowable.Kant gave the status of "sensibility",while Hegel despised "sensibility".Hegel’s "being"(Sein)is different from Kant’s " existence"(Existenz).The former is logical "being" and the latter is perceptual "existence".The difference between the two is that they are both a kind of "transcendental thinking" : Kant uses innate forms(time and space and category)to achieve the same thinking and being in the world of phenomena;Hegel’s absolute spirit and the thinking and being achieved by its evolution.The sameness is also the result of "innate thinking",that is,"innate conception",not derived from experience.In addition,Hegel and Kant have the same understanding of "objectivity",and both believe that objectiveness means universal necessity.The fundamental similarity between the two is that both are essentialist positions.