|77| Second Section. Contract
Property, of which the side of determinate being, or of externality, is no longer merely a thing but contains within itself the moment of a will (and hence of another will), comes about through contract — as the process in which the contradiction is displayed and mediated: that I am and remain an owner existing for myself, excluding the will of another, precisely insofar as I, in a will identical with the other’s, cease to be an owner.
This unity of two [parties] mutually recognizing one another as free – itself attains existence – a process – recognition is only this abstract unity – acquiring, taking possession – within and by virtue of this recognizing. Recognizing taken by itself, formal.
Formal, external representation –
Acquisition of a thing that belongs to another free will – So determined, the contract has the interest that I possess something; – this is the interest of particularity –
through common will
Interest of reason: α) that I am and remain owner – β) that my existence, as owner, [as] objectivity – should be the free self-consciousness of another –
Particular interest through
– my will as existent, that is, as universal
§ 72: What a contract is
In a contract, a thing no longer belongs to me only through my own will. Another person’s will is in it too.
That sounds simple. But there is a strange contradiction in it. I want to be an owner and stay one, wholly for myself. At the same time I stop being an owner. For I agree with another person and hand something over.
How does this fit together?
The contract resolves this contradiction. It is a process in which both happen. If you sell your apples at the market, you hand the apples over. Still, you remain an owner. Now you have money instead of apples. And you handed over the apples by your own will.
Summary: In a contract I give up property and yet remain an owner. This works because two wills agree.
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