On The Externalization Of The Concept Of Hegel

The concept of externalization is an important concept through the system of Hegel's philosophy, not only as a bridge between Hegel's philosophy and the history of philosophy, but also as a shortcut to understand Hegel's philosophy by analyzing how Hegel realizes the reunification of subject and object. Hegel proposes this concept as responding to the pattern of subject-object in modern philosophy. Descartes'"I think, therefore I am" establishes the pattern of subject-object. The dualism of mind-matter is just a typical representative of the pattern. Hegel sublates Spinoza's substance, Kant's apperception, Fichte's absolute selbst and Schelling's objective subject-object, proposes absolute spirit as an absolute highest concept, and achieves the unity of subject and object through the the self-disunion and re-unification of absolute spirit, regarding the opposition of subject and object as an inevitable moment of the process in the development of absolute spirit. The dialectical process in which the unified subject - object splits into subject and object is just externalization.Hegel's concept of externalization first appears in Jenaer system drafts. In this works Hegel interpretes labor as a kind of externalization. In the Phenomenology of Spirit, externalization is becoming a core concept. Externalization is self-division of absolute spirit, absolute spirit sets itself as object, recognizing itself by this object. The process of spirit'developing is the process of externalization of absolute spirit and return to itself, and consciousness, self-consciousness, reason are various forms of externalization of absolute spirit, as the phenomena of absolute spirit. Finally absolute spirit returns to itself from the various forms and achieves the full understanding of itself. This understanding is just absolute knowledge.In the Encyclo Pedia of the Philosophical Sciences, externalization gets its relatively complete form: the self-movement of pure concept at last to the absolute idea is the core of externalization,which is proved by logic. But the absolute idea is not real, therefore it has to realize its substantiation in time and space and becomes Dasein. This process is externalization. Nature and history as the products of externalization is interpreted by philosophy of nature and philosophy of spirit. Nature is the externalized idea in space, and history is the externalized spirit in time. The process of externalization is self-expression of absolute spirit, which corresponds to the first negation of"negation of negation". Spirit's return to itself from the externalized forms is the Sublation of externalization, that is the second negation of"negation of negation". On the whole, the process from logic to nature is externalization and the process from nature to spirit is internalization. During this process of externalization-internalization, absolute spirit achieves the identity with itself by returning to itself from externalized forms, overcoming the division and confrontation and uniting subject and object. This identity is the intermediated identity, so this identity is the identity of identity and un-identity.Based on Feuerbach's criticism toward Hegel's thinking of externalization, Marx establishes the theory of alienation by critizing and reforming Hegel's externalization concept. As the core issue of Western Marxism philosophy, new theory of alienation is developed in the cultural dimension as the development of Marx's theory of alienation.