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189

A. The System of Needs

Particularity, at first, as determined in opposition to the universal of the will in general (§ 60), is subjective need, which attains its objectivity — that is, satisfaction — through the means of α) external things, which are now likewise the property and product of other needs and wills, and β) through activity and labour, as that which mediates the two sides. Since its purpose is the satisfaction of subjective particularity, but universality asserts itself in its relation to the needs and the free arbitrary will of others, this shining of rationality into this sphere of finitude is the understanding — the aspect that matters in the consideration [of this sphere], and which constitutes the reconciling [element] within this sphere itself.

Political economy is the science that takes its point of departure from these viewpoints, but which then has to set forth the relationship and movement of the masses in their qualitative and quantitative determinacy and entanglement. — This is one of the sciences that has arisen in recent times, [taking these matters] as its ground. Its development shows the interesting spectacle of how thought (see Smith, Say, Ricardo)1 finds out, from the infinite mass of particulars that at first lie before it, the simple principles of the matter — the understanding effective within it and governing it. — Just as, on the one hand, it is the reconciling [element] to recognize, within the sphere of needs, this shining of rationality that lies within, and is at work in, the matter itself, so, conversely, this is the field on which the understanding of subjective purposes and moral opinions vents its dissatisfaction and moral peevishness.

  1. Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776; Jean Baptiste Say, Traité d’économie politique, 1803; David Ricardo, On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation, 1817. ↩︎

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3 responses to “189”

  1. Hegel (Encyclopedia 1827) Avatar
    Hegel (Encyclopedia 1827)

    Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Outline (1827), § 524:

    § 524. The particularity of persons initially comprises their needs. The possibility of satisfying these is here placed in the social nexus, which is the universal resource from which all obtain this satisfaction. The immediate taking possession (§ 488) of external objects as means to this end no longer occurs, or scarcely occurs, in the condition in which this standpoint of mediation is actualized; the objects are property. Their acquisition is conditioned and mediated, on the one hand, by the will of the possessor, who as a particular [will] has the satisfaction of manifoldly determined needs as his purpose, and, on the other hand, by the ever-renewing production of exchangeable means through one’s own labor.

  2. Hegel (Encyclopedia 1830) Avatar
    Hegel (Encyclopedia 1830)

    Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Outline (1830), § 524:

    § 524. α) The particularity of persons initially comprises their needs. The possibility of satisfying these is here placed in the social nexus, which is the universal resource from which all obtain their satisfaction. The immediate taking possession (§ 488) of external objects as means to this end no longer occurs, or scarcely occurs, in the condition in which this standpoint of mediation is actualized; the objects are property. Their acquisition is conditioned and mediated, on the one hand, by the will of the possessor, who as a particular [will] has the satisfaction of manifoldly determined needs as his purpose, and, on the other hand, by the ever-renewing production of exchangeable means through one’s own labor; this mediation of satisfaction through the labor of all constitutes the universal resource.

  3. Eduard Gans (Additions) Avatar
    Eduard Gans (Additions)

    There are certain universal needs, such as eating, drinking, clothing, and so on, and it depends entirely on contingent circumstances how these are satisfied. The soil here or there is more or less fertile, the years vary in their yield, one person is industrious, another lazy; but this swarming of arbitrariness generates universal determinations out of itself, and this seemingly scattered and thoughtless activity is held together by a necessity that arises of its own accord. To discover this necessity is the object of political economy, a science that does credit to thought because it finds the laws governing a mass of contingencies. It is an interesting spectacle to see how all the connections here are reciprocal, how the particular spheres group themselves, exert influence on others, and are furthered or hindered by them. This interweaving, which one does not at first believe in, since everything seems left to the arbitrary will of the individual, is above all remarkable, and bears a resemblance to the planetary system, which always shows the eye only irregular movements, yet whose laws can nonetheless be discovered.

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