Essay on "Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel"

Essay 8 pages (2905 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. According to the philosopher, "Religion is not consciousness of this or that truth in individual objects, but of the absolute truth, of truth as the universal, the all-comprehending, outside of which there lies nothing at all. The content of its consciousness is further the Universally True, which exists on its own account or in and for itself, which determines itself, and is not determined from without. While the finite required the Other for its determinateness, the True has it determinateness, the limit, its end itself; it is not limited through an Other, but the Other is found in itself." (Hegel, 148)

We can see that the key words and the main coordinates that we need to take into consideration when trying to define religion are: truth, universality, consciousness, limits of self. Religion is defined by Hegel as an active process of consciousness through which a person comes into contact with god, having its nature changed, impacted by the very understanding of what god is. Individual objects are considered to be, through their very distinct existence, limited. Associated to them therefore is a limited type of truth. Trying to understand god in and through this type of understanding is a road that will take you nowhere, since god is everything and the source of everything, its perfection and its universality being characteristics which are mutually supportive.

God is identified with the absolute truth which is universal and includes everything. From the fact that it includes all the things which exist or are either potential, we realize that the essence of the divine nature is a fundamentally active one, in the sense that it is the absolute

Continue scrolling to

download full paper ⤓

truth of it which makes it exist and the other way around. If nothing exists outside the god-truth, then it means that god is the origin of Life and that what exists beyond him is death or the opposite of truth (lies, limited truth, etc.). At this point we could think about the ethic connotations that truth and lying have, one being associated with morality, spirituality, goodness, salvation and the other one with evil, spiritual decay and death. Under these circumstances we might assume that death derives from an incapacity to become one with the truth and the universal.

Therefore, in this definition we encounter the omniscient and the universal dimensions of the divine. The access to them is translated in the process of life (through consciousness and self-awareness) and is given the name of religion ( the limited individual come to life through the contamination with the universal dimension). All- comprehending means not only that god includes everything, but he understands everything- hence his omnipotence (if one has absolute knowledge and understanding of things, then he has absolute power upon their existence and non-existence).

Through that which Hegel calls "religion," the individual comes into direct contact with god. Through the process of consciousness the person actively opens his mind and received the "universally true." Since it is the universally -- true which fills his consciousness, it would be safe to assume that they become synonymous (hence the contamination of the human with the divine, in other words, access to the truth which is a synonym of life).

Moving on we reach another defining characteristic of god. The philosopher explains how god is existence (life) in the general sense. The divine exists through itself, because of itself and for itself. Since nothing else touches it, or determines it from the outside, then it results that god can be associated with absolute freedom. It is at this point that we reach the fundamental triad represented by truth-life-freedom, with all the elements supporting each other in a manner which makes them become synonyms (although incomplete in the absence of just one of them).

Hegel makes a point about the fact that god's omnipotence results first and foremost from the fact that him and only him can determine his own existence, that his awareness of his self is powerful enough in order to act as a life creating factor. In other words it could be stated that when the truth is aware of itself, this consciousness becomes life (we must always bear in mind the universal dimension which characterizes the element under discussion).

The fact that god does not require anything or anyone else in order to exist, we understand that god is infinite (and through its infinity, perfect). The imperfection of people and things derives from the fact that they are limited. The limit is conceived as a dependency on other elements, on the Other. God not only is not limited by the Other, but he includes the other. At this point we understand that when we say that god is infinite we mean that it is in god that there is an infinite potential of life- which through his will is realized and manifested as single human beings. If god is perfection, infinity, absolute truth, absolute freedom, then one might wonder what is the purpose of man on earth. God exists independently of the other, then why create one? Some might argue that the final fight between good and evil will have its result influenced by man. The truth is that this point-of-view is very distant from the simple truth, which is that god created man because he loved man. It is only because of his infinite love that he gave man the gifts of life, consciousness and freedom, as well as the possibility to use them in a manner that would allow him to become an integrant part of the transcendent.

Therefore we understand that religion, in the opinion of Hegel is a process through which man becomes aware of himself, god and the relation between them. Religion is defined as a mental, spiritual process through which man conceives god and accepts him as well as his condition (of limited part torn out of the universal).

The second definition of religion is given by Auguste Sabatier. According to him "We shall now be able to define the essence of religion. It is a commerce, a conscious and willed relation into which the soul in distress enters with the mysterious power on which it feels that it and its destiny depend. This commerce with God is realized by prayer. Prayer is religion in act" that is to say, real religion. It is prayer which distinguishes religious phenomena from all those which resemble them or lie near them, from the moral sense, for instance, or aesthetic feeling. If religion is a practical need, the response to it can only be a practical action…. This act is prayer, by which I mean, not an empty utterance of words, not the repetition of certain sacred formulas, but the movement of the soul putting itself into personal relation and contact with the mysterious power whose presence it feels even before it is able to give it a name. Where this inward prayer is wanting there is no religion; on the other hand, wherever this prayer springs up in the soul and moves it, even in the absence of all form and doctrine clearly defined, there is true religion, living piety." (Sabatier, 27-28)

Sabatier very interestingly defines the process as one of commerce, that is a relation of exchange between two entities. These are the soul and god. While god is defined as a mysterious presence, the circumstances in which the process is initiated are those of distress. From this we understand that religion is activated when man feels that he can not do it on his own and needs the help of a superior entity which he does not understand (hence its mysterious dimension). yet acknowledging his dependence upon it.

Right from the very beginning of the definition the author introduces key concepts such as destiny, the mystery of the divine, will, consciousness, etc. Te idea of destiny allows us to understand the relation of dependence which exists between man and god, in the sense that man depends completely on god's will. God being omniscient and omnipotent then it is impossible to live outside him. Hence the idea that god determines the lives of people through his infinite power and knowledge ( if god knows what will happen before it happens, then this means that regardless of man's choices, he will perform an act of will which is not his but fundamentally god's).

Man is aware that his life as a whole depends on god, but reading between the lines we perceive the fact that man also knows he can choose on his on. God does not interfere on a daily basis, but is at the disposal of man if the latter one needs to be guided. From the present definition we also understand that god is omnibenevolent, otherwise man would fear him or stay away from him. Instead, it is man who willingly and consciously calls god in order to receive his support. We also find here the limited condition of man who… READ MORE

Download Full Paper

Write a New Paper for Me

Quoted Instructions for "Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel" Assignment:

“

Based on what you have learned in this course, please analyze, evaluate and criticize, THREE of the following definitions of religion.

Your discussion of each quotation should be at least 1000 words long. Please submit your answers as one document to turnitin.com. Also e-mail me your answers as an attached Word document.

Definition One

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, trans., E. B. Speirs and J. Burdon Sanderson (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd., 1895). Republished in G.. W. F. Hegel, On Art, Religion, and the History of Philosophy: Introductory Lectures, ed. J. Glenn Gray (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1970), 148.

*****Religion is not consciousness of this or that truth in individual objects, but of the absolute truth, of truth as the universal, the all-comprehending, outside of which there lies nothing at all. The content of its consciousness is further the Universally True, which exists on its own account or in and for itself, which determines itself, and is not determined from without. While the finite required the Other for its determinateness, the True has it determinateness, the limit, its end itself; it is not limited through an Other, but the Other is found in itself.*****

Definition Two

Georg Simmel, Die Religion (Frankfurt am Main: Literarische Anstalt: RA±tten & Leonig, 1906), 12, 22-23

*****There are perhaps three segments within life which are particularly affected by the religious perspectives: humanity*****s attitude toward nature, toward fate, and toward surrounding society.*****

*****The individual feels himself bound to a higher universality, out of which he flows and into which he flows, to which he is devoted, but from which he also expects uplifting and redemption. He is both separate from it and identical to it.*****

Defintion Three

Auguste *****tier, Outlines of a Philosophy of Religion (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1897) pp. 27-28

*****We shall now be able to define the essence of religion. It is a commerce, a conscious and willed relation into which the soul in distress enters with the mysterious power on which it feels that it and its destiny depend. This commerce with God is realized by prayer. Prayer is religion in act ***** that is to say, real religion. It is prayer which distinguishes religious phenomena from all those which resemble them or lie near them, from the moral sense, for instance, or aesthetic feeling. If religion is a practical need, the response to it can only be a practical action*****¦. This act is prayer, by which I mean, not an empty utterance of words, not the repetition of certain sacred formulas, but the movement of the soul putting itself into personal relation and contact with the mysterious power whose presence it feels even before it is able to give it a name. Where this inward prayer is wanting there is no religion; on the other hand, wherever this prayer springs up in the soul and moves it, even in the absence of all form and doctrine clearly defined, there is true religion, living piety.*****

Definition Four

John Renard, The Handy Religion Answer Book (Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 2002), 3.

*****In its broadest sense, the term *****religion***** means adherence to a set of beliefs or teachings about the deepest and most elusive of life*****s mysteries. The word comes from an ancient Latin root (religo) that means *****to bind***** or *****to obligate.***** Religious Persons join together in a shared quest to understand a host of perplexing questions. What is the origin of life? What does it mean to be human? Are there greater-than-human forces responsible for the shape of things? How should a person of good will behave? Is life as we know it all there is, or are we destined for an adventure that goes well beyond an earthly life-expectancy?*****

Definition Five

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion#Definition_of_religion

*****Religion has been defined in a wide variety of ways. Most definitions attempt to find a balance somewhere between overly sharp definition and meaningless generalities. Some sources have tried to use formalistic, doctrinal definitions while others have emphasized experiential, emotive, intuitive, valuational and ethical factors. Definitions mostly include:

a notion of the transcendent or divine, often, but not always, in the form of theism

a cultural or behavioural aspect of ritual, liturgy and organized worship, often involving a priesthood, and societal norms of morality (ethos) and virtue (arete)

a set of myths or sacred truths held in reverence or believed by adherents

Sociologists and anthropologists tend to see religion as an abstract set of ideas, values, or experiences developed as part of a cultural matrix. For example, in Lindbeck*****'s Nature of Doctrine, religion does not refer to belief in *****"God*****" or a transcendent Absolute. Instead, Lindbeck defines religion as, *****"a kind of cultural and/or linguistic framework or medium that shapes the entirety of life and thought*****¦ it is similar to an idiom that makes possible the description of realities, the formulation of beliefs, and the experiencing of inner attitudes, feelings, and sentiments.*****[6] According to this definition, religion refers to one*****'s primary worldview and how this dictates one*****'s thoughts and actions.*****

How to Reference "Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel" Essay in a Bibliography

“Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2010, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel-according/9971. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (2010). Retrieved from https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel-according/9971

A1-TermPaper.com. (2010). Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. [online] Available at: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel-according/9971 [Accessed 5 Oct, 2024].

”Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel” 2010. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel-according/9971.

”Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel” A1-TermPaper.com, Last modified 2024. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel-according/9971.

[1] ”Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2010. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel-according/9971. [Accessed: 5-Oct-2024].

1. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2010 [cited 5 October 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel-according/9971

1. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel-according/9971. Published 2010. Accessed October 5, 2024.

Related Essays: