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12

The system of this content, as it finds itself immediately present in the will, exists only as a multitude and manifold of drives, each of which is mine in general alongside others, and is at the same time a universal and indeterminate entity that has various objects and modes of satisfaction. In that the will gives itself the form of singularity (§ 7) in this twofold indeterminacy, it is a resolving will, and only as a resolving will in general is it an actual will.

Instead of resolving upon something, i.e., sublating the indeterminacy in which the one content as well as the other is initially only a possible one, our language also has the expression: cf. “But the absolute freedom of the idea is that it does not merely pass over into life, nor as finite cognition let life shine within itself, but in the absolute truth of itself resolves to freely release out of itself the moment of its particularity or of the first determining and otherness, the immediate idea as its reflection, as nature.“ (§ 244 Enc. 1830) [sich entschließen], in that the indeterminacy of the will itself, as the neutral but infinitely fertilized entity, the primal germ of all existence, contains the determinations and purposes within itself and brings them forth only out of itself.

DE ES

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2 responses to “12”

  1. Hegel (Notes) Avatar
    Hegel (Notes)

    [zu § 12/13] Will is formal – its content is not freedom – see § 13. Multiplicity of the particular.
    Here repeated – from above – already had – deciding – because here for the first time a nearer, more determinate content – drive, inclination is a purpose through my will; resolving, deciding belongs to this.
    Singularity – immediate subjectivity, excluding.
    § 13. Immediate will – return into itself, subjectivity is the immediate singularity of this individual, – abstr[act] negativity – excluding – not ideal, within me myself –

  2. Hegel (Simple) Avatar
    Hegel (Simple)

    § 12: Making up your mind

    Now the drives are there. But they are a jumble, one next to the other.

    And each single drive is also still indeterminate. Take hunger. I can satisfy it with bread, with an apple or with soup. The drive does not say with what.

    So the will faces a double indeterminacy:

    Which drive do I follow?

    And how do I satisfy it?

    What does the will do? It decides. It turns many possibilities into one reality. Only then is it an actual will.

    German has a second word for this. Listen closely. The first word for deciding sounds like “closing” something. The second sounds like “unlocking” something. The will opens up. It lets out something that lay inside it.

    For the indeterminacy of the will is not empty. It is like a seed, endlessly fertile. It contains everything definite. The will does not fetch its purposes from outside. It brings them forth from itself.

    Summary: The will only becomes real when it decides. In this “unlocking”, it opens up. It brings forth what was already in it as a potential.

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