That the ethical is the system of these determinations of the Idea constitutes its rationality. In this way it is freedom, or the will that is in and for itself, as the objective, a circle of necessity whose moments are the ethical powers that govern the life of individuals, and which have, in these individuals as their accidents, their representation, appearing shape, and actuality.
Because the ethical determinations constitute the concept of freedom, they are the substantiality or the universal essence of individuals, who relate to them only as something accidental. Whether the individual exists or not is a matter of indifference to objective ethical life, which alone is what abides and is the power by which the life of individuals is governed. Ethical life has therefore been represented to peoples as eternal justice, as gods existing in and for themselves, against whom the vain bustle of individuals remains but a surging play.
§ 145: The ethical powers
The laws and institutions of ethical life form a whole. They hang together in a rational way. Their rationality lies in this.
What does this mean for the individual?
These orders are powers. They govern the life of people. The family we grow up in. The society in which we work. The state in which we live. They were there before us. They will be there after us.
A hard thought:
Seen from the order, the single person is almost accidental. Whether this person or that one lives changes little for the order. The order is what lasts. That is why peoples have often worshiped the ethical as eternal justice, like gods. The bustle of individuals, by contrast, seemed like waves on the sea.
But the powers are not merely alien. After all, they live only in people, in their thinking and doing.
Summary: The ethical orders form a rational whole. As powers, they govern the life of individuals. They remain while individuals come and go.
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