Comments on: 49

By: Hegel (Simple)

Hegel (Simple) — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 10:37:14 +0000

§ 49: Equal as persons, unequal in possession

It is rational that I have property. Every human being should be able to have property. But what and how much I own is another question.

That depends on many things. On my wishes and aims, my talents, my hard work, my luck, the circumstances. For right at this stage, all this is chance.

Are not all human beings equal?

As persons, yes. But that is an empty sentence. The person is exactly what is still without any differences. If you speak of equality here, you only say: Persons are persons.

Everything else is unequal. And that is exactly where possession belongs.

The demand for equal shares:

Some demand that we share out land or wealth equally. This demand is empty and shallow. For human beings differ, not only by nature but also in spirit. They have different gifts, plans and paths. Equal shares would soon be gone again, because hard work and skill differ.

Nor may you complain about nature here. Nature is not free. That is why it is neither just nor unjust.

And a living?

People say: Everyone should have what he needs to live. That is well meant. But said in such a general way, it stays a mere wish. Besides, a living is something other than property. It belongs to a later stage, in civil society.

Summary: Human beings are equal as persons. That is why everyone should be able to have property. How much each has is unequal, and that is no wrong.

By: Cross-reference

Cross-reference — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 14:49:12 +0000

Cross-reference: From the reading group’s excursuses (in German), the following belong here: The Positivity of the Christian Religion (1795/96): Equality

By: Eduard Gans (Additions)

Eduard Gans (Additions) — Wed, 29 May 1833 13:10:17 +0000

The equality that one might wish to introduce with respect to the distribution of goods would, since wealth depends on diligence, in any case be destroyed again within a short time. But what cannot be carried out should also not be carried out. For human beings are indeed equal, but only as persons, that is, with regard to the source of their possession. Accordingly, every human being would have to have property. If, therefore, one wishes to speak of equality, it is this equality that must be considered. Falling outside it, however, is the determination of particularity, the question of how much I possess. Here the assertion is false that justice demands that the property of everyone should be equal, for justice demands only that everyone should have property. Rather, particularity is precisely where inequality has its place, and equality here would be a wrong. It is quite true that people frequently develop a desire for the goods of others, but this is precisely the wrong, for right is that which remains indifferent to particularity.

By: Hegel (Notes)

Hegel (Notes) — Thu, 21 Nov 1822 08:08:32 +0000

Equality (identity) of human beings according to their personality
b) External things
Legitimacy – equality in the In-, not in the finite
– immense difference –
Victory of the legal – [of] civil society – advantage, benefit –