Comments on: 51

By: Hegel (Simple)

Hegel (Simple) — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 10:37:18 +0000

§ 51: Willing alone is not enough

Can I make something my property just by willing it?

No. If you see a mushroom in the woods and think, “That one is mine”, you do not have it yet. Someone else can pick it. The inner wish stays invisible.

What does it take?

I must take hold of the thing. My will must step outside. Only then can others recognize it. Property is, after all, the existence of my freedom. And existence means: being visible to others.

One condition goes without saying: The thing must not yet belong to anyone. This already points to the relation to other human beings.

Summary: A mere wish makes nothing my property. I must take hold of the thing. Then others can recognize my will.

By: Eduard Gans (Additions)

Eduard Gans (Additions) — Wed, 29 May 1833 13:10:53 +0000

That the person places his will into a thing is only the concept of property, and what follows is precisely its realization. My inner act of will, which says that something is mine, must also become recognizable for others. If I make a thing my own, I give it this predicate, which must appear on it in external form and not merely remain within my inner will. Among children it tends to happen that, against another's taking possession, they insist on their earlier willing; but for adults this willing is not sufficient, for the form of subjectivity must be removed and must work itself out into objectivity.

By: Hegel (Notes)

Hegel (Notes) — Fri, 22 Nov 1822 08:06:32 +0000

Necessary – taking possession – to make my will manifest on a thing. This here [is] acquiring in general. My body [is] immediately mine – things not – manner and way of making them mine
Manner of existence.