On Hegel’s Idea of Good in the Science of Logic: Methodology, Metaphysics, and Epistemology in Dialogue with Kantian Ethics and the Phenomenology of Spirit

Abstract

This paper presents a study of "The Idea of the Good" in Hegel's Science of Logic. The first part of this text begins by examining the goals pursued by the section "The Idea", in order to provide an explanation of how "The Idea of the Good" fits into it and what contributions it makes to the fulfillment of these goals. In this sense, I will argue that the idea of the good contributes to the development of the correspondence between the subjective and objective poles of the idea, although with certain deficiencies that will require its integration with the theoretical idea. Furthermore, I will argue that Hegel is discussing Kantian ethics, albeit from a metaphysical and epistemological perspective. In line with this, the following sections of this text will provide a brief presentation of Kantian ethics (mainly focusing on those aspects that seem relevant from the perspective of Hegel's reading, namely, the transcendental dialectic of the Critique of Practical Reason), and then I will proceed to study passages from the Phenomenology of Spirit – namely, "The Moral View of the World" and "Dissemblance or Duplicity" (“Die Verstellung”)–, where Hegel discusses these topics. This will show certain coherence between the treatment of Kantian ethics as it appears in the Phenomenology and the treatment of the idea of the good in the Logic, proving that the target of this last text is precisely Kantian ethics but now focusing on a metaphysical and epistemological matter.