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18

With regard to the evaluation of the drives, the dialectic presents the appearance that, as immanent and thus positive, the determinations of the immediate will are good; man is thus said to be good by nature. Insofar, however, as they are natural determinations, and thus opposed to freedom and to the concept of spirit in general and are the negative, they are to be extirpated; man is thus said to be evil by nature. At this standpoint, subjective arbitrariness is likewise the deciding factor for one assertion or the other.

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3 responses to “18”

  1. Hegel (Notes) Avatar
    Hegel (Notes)

    [zu § 18] Judgment — to subsume under universal fixed determinations
    Good —
    α) good, what agrees with a purpose, e.g. my feeling — archetype — agrees with —
    β) the good — agreement of the will with itself — Posit[ive]
    Evil —
    Natural determinations — against freedom of the will.

  2. Eduard Gans (Additions) Avatar
    Eduard Gans (Additions)

    The Christian doctrine that man is by nature evil stands higher than the other doctrine, which holds him to be good; it is accordingly to be grasped in its philosophical interpretation. As spirit, man is a free being who has the standing not to let himself be determined by natural impulses. Man, in his immediate and uncultivated state, is therefore in a condition in which he ought not to be, and from which he must free himself. The doctrine of original sin, without which Christianity would not be the religion of freedom, has this meaning.

  3. Hegel (Simple) Avatar
    Hegel (Simple)

    § 18: Good by nature or evil by nature?

    People have argued about the drives for a long time. Some say: Man is good by nature. Others say: He is evil by nature. As long as we only look at the drives, each side has an argument.

    The first side says: The drives belong to me. Nobody planted them in me from outside. They want me to live and to grow. So they are good.

    The second side says: The drives are nature. They push without asking me. But man is spirit, and spirit is free. Whatever merely drives him stands against his freedom. So the drives are evil, and we must root them out.

    Who is right? From where we stand now, nobody can decide this. People take one answer or the other, depending on which they like better. Again, arbitrariness decides.

    Even so, the two answers do not weigh the same. Christian teaching says: Man is evil by nature. That sounds harsh. But there is more truth in it than in the friendly opposite teaching. For what it means is this: Man should not stay as he is by nature. Whoever only follows his drives is not yet what he can be. He must first free himself.

    This is the meaning of the doctrine of original sin. Without it, Christianity would not be the religion of freedom.

    Summary: While we only look at the drives, we can claim both: They are good, and they are evil. Choosing between the two remains arbitrariness. The deeper thought is this: Man must go beyond his mere nature in order to become free.

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