Individuality: Action and Judgement

C. Individuality Which Takes Itself to Be Real In and For Itself (§394-437)

In this section Hegel attempts to fill the space left open when he rejected the physical sciences as a way to judge or determine the character of an individual. Hegel considers actions, or one action, and to what extent these can be used to determine the inner person.

Hegel's determination is that action arises from the inner self (desire -> will -> action), and so we can regard it as a more pure representation of the inner. He also holds that as each action comes from this inner self, so each action can be thought to represent the same inner self (§402). That said, actions can only be judged in an external manner, as their consequences occur in the external world and are contingent (§403-409).

A person is most concerned with his own action and circumstance, and is will to demand of others that they be so concerned. Each individual is like this, and so, in a way, universalizes their self-concern (§417-419).

Hegel challenges Kant in "Reason as Lawgiver" by attempting to show that reason cannot give us an ethical system born out of itself (universalized imperatives). Instead, reason can only judge systems as to the extent of their consistency (§420-428). However, we will soon realize that opposing theories can be internally consistent (§431). Therefore genuine effort must be expended in deciding what should be done. This is a continual process in the imperfect (and imperfectable?) practical laws of a society, unlike the true divine law (§437).