AbstractsPsychology

The problem of this diseertation is that of determining the nature ot the individual person and his social status within the scope ot Hegel's philosophical Psychology. The problem is that of ascertaining to what extent the individual, on all levels of existence, is conceived as an aspect or moment of the universal. No definitive work has as yet appeared dealing exclusively with the problem as presented herewith. The basic Hegelian material utilized in this work is contained within the Phänomenologie, the Encyclopädie, the Philosophie des Rechts and, to a lesser extent within the earlier philosophie Propädeutik. Among secondary sources the writings of Harris, Baillie, Wallace, Stirling, Royce, McTaggart, Stace, Knox and Mure may be cited. In German, the work of Lasson, Glockner, Hartmann, Kroner, Fischer deserve mention. Hegel's philosophy within its historical background is briefly sketched, noting in particular the influence ot Aristotle and Kant. Atter recognition ot the linguistic problem in Hegel, it is aeen that the emphasis on the empirical and the organic everywhere characterizes his philosophy. A review or the historical development of the dialectic trom Heraclitus to Kant discloses that Hegel gives it a distinctive place in his thought. The principle of negativity is paramount to any advance towards the speculative truth discoverable within the synthesis. His metaphysical principles are so interwoven within his logic that no sharp distinction can be made between them. The nature ot the Real is disclosed to be dialectic, empirical, organic, concrete and Absolute. The logical development of the category of individuality reveals the broad dialectical developnent by which Hegel expounds every philosophical subject according to a well-conceived theory of degrees of reality. The development of the individual is expressed on the various levels ot consciousness, self-consciousness, and reason, all requiring the existence of social institutions tor their realization. But whereas individuality unfolds dialectically as an organic whole, it appears that Hegel does not always recognize the exact relationship between the various expressions of individuality as displayed on the many levels. This procedure results in the shading of psychology and metaphysics into each other. Personality is envisioned as the logical outcome of individuality but its description is disappointingly formal. By expounding personality within a legal and economic context, Hegel fails to do justice to its empirical richness. This is most evident within the scope ot Hegel's psychology of personality which sets forth the forms of mental activity. The minimizing ot the uniqueness of the ordinary individual and the failure to provide tor a tension between him and his society is everywhere apparent in Hegel's analysis, especially in his treatment ot the will. The universal and the particular coalesce so imperceptibly that the individual is in grave danger or being absorbed within "objective mind." It is highly questionable whether the ease tor…