|188| The self-seeking purpose, in its actualization, so conditioned by universality, grounds a system of all-round dependence, such that the subsistence and welfare of the individual, and his rightful existence, are interwoven with the subsistence, welfare, and right of all, are grounded on this, and are actual and secured only within this context. — This system can, at first, be regarded as the external state — the state based on need and on the understanding.
§ 183: All depend on each other
Each seeks his own advantage. But in doing so he stays tied to all the others. So a network arises in which each depends on each.
How far does this dependence reach?
My livelihood, my welfare and my right are interwoven with the livelihood, welfare and right of all. Only in this context are they secure. When a factory closes, it does not only hit the workers. It hits the baker on the corner, the landlord, the school.
What can we call this network?
We can see it as an external state. It is a state based on need and on the understanding. It is not yet the true state. It is the order that arises because all need each other.
Summary: In civil society, each depends on all. The welfare of the individual is interwoven with the welfare of all. This order is an external state, based on need and on the understanding.
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