Absolute (philosophy)

In metaphysics, the absolute refers most of the time to a perfect, self-sufficient reality that depends upon nothing external to itself.[1] In theology, the term is also used to designate the supreme being.[2]

Hegel

Hegel considers the absolute as an "unconditioned reality which is either the spiritual ground of all being or the whole of things considered as a spiritual unity".[3] This definition of the absolute is also found in the works of F. W. J. Schelling, the perceived insufficiences of which inspired Hegel to develop his own distinctive account.[4] Hegel's view was anticipated by Johann Gottlieb Fichte.[3] The concept of "the absolute" as "the sum of all being, actual and potential" was introduced in modern philosophy by Hegel.[5][2]

For Hegel, as understood by Martin Heidegger, the absolute is "spirit, that which is present to itself in the certainty of unconditional self-knowing".[6] As Hegel is understood by Frederick Copleston, "[l]ogic studies the absolute 'in itself'; the philosophy of nature studies the absolute 'for itself'; and the philosophy of spirit studies the absolute 'in and for itself'."[7]

In British philosophy, self-identified neo-Hegelian F. H. Bradley distinguishes the concept of absolute from God, whereas Josiah Royce, another neo-Hegelian and founder of the American idealism school of philosophy, has equated them.[3]

Indian religions

The concept of the absolute has been used to interpret the early texts of the Indian religions such as those attributed to Yajnavalkya, Nagarjuna and Adi Shankara.[8]

According to Takeshi Umehara, some ancient texts of Buddhism state that the "truly Absolute and the truly Free must be nothingness",[9] the "void".[10] Yet, the early Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna, states Paul Williams, does not present "emptiness" as some kind of absolute; rather, it is "the very absence (a pure non-existence) of inherent existence" in Mādhyamaka school of the Buddhist philosophy.[11]

According to Glyn Richards, the early texts of Hinduism state that the Brahman or the nondual Brahman–Atman is the absolute.[12][13][14]

See also

References

  1. Clément, Élisabeth; Demonque, Chantal; Hansen-Løve, Laurence; et al. (2011). "absolu". In Hansen-Løve, Laurence (ed.). La philosophie de A à Z (in French). Paris: Hatier. p. 11. ISBN 978-2-218-94735-3. OCLC 795416746.
  2. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "The Absolute" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. See for the development of Hegel's idea of "the absolute." Charles Edward Andrew Lincoln IV, Hegelian Dialectical Analysis of U.S. Voting Laws, 42 U. Dayton L. Rev. 87 (2017). See Lincoln, Charles The Dialectical Path of Law, 2021 Rowman & Littlefield.
  3. Sprigge, T. L. S. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor and Francis. doi:10.4324/9780415249126-N001-1.
  4. Inwood, Michael. (1992) A Hegel Dictionary. p. 27
  5. Frederick Charles Copleston (1963). History of Philosophy: Fichte to Nietzsche. Paulist Press. pp. 166–180. ISBN 978-0-8091-0071-2.
  6. Heidegger, Martin (2002). Heidegger: Off the Beaten Track. Cambridge University Press. pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-0-521-80507-0.
  7. Frederick Charles Copleston (2003). 18th and 19th Century German Philosophy. A&C Black. pp. 173–174. ISBN 978-0-8264-6901-4.
  8. Nakamura, Hajime (1964). The Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India-China-Tibet-Japan. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 53–57. ISBN 978-0-8248-0078-9., Quote: "Thus the ultimate Absolute presumed by the Indians is not a personal god but an impersonal and metaphysical Principle. Here we can see the impersonal character of the Absolute in Indian thought. The inclination of grasping Absolute negatively necessarily leads (as Hegel would say) to the negation of the negative expression itself."
  9. Umehara, Takeshi (1970). "Heidegger and Buddhism". Philosophy East and West. 20 (3): 271–281. doi:10.2307/1398308. JSTOR 1398308.
  10. Orru, Marco; Wang, Amy (1992). "Durkheim, Religion, and Buddhism". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 31 (1): 47–61. doi:10.2307/1386831. JSTOR 1386831. S2CID 144043208.
  11. Williams, Paul (2002). Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. pp. 146–148.
  12. Richards, Glyn (1995). "Modern Hinduism". Studies in Religion. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 117–127. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-24147-7_9. ISBN 978-1-349-24149-1.
  13. Chaudhuri, Haridas (1954). "The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy". Philosophy East and West. 4 (1): 47–66. doi:10.2307/1396951. JSTOR 1396951., Quote: "The Self or Atman is the Absolute viewed from the subjective standpoint (arkara), or a real mode of existence of the Absolute."
  14. Simoni-Wastila, Henry (2002). "Māyā and radical particularity: Can particular persons be one with Brahman?". International Journal of Hindu Studies. Springer. 6 (1): 1–18. doi:10.1007/s11407-002-0009-5. S2CID 144665828.
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