![]() Hegel’s clash of the two consciousnesses paints a drastically different picture of the state of nature than we find in either Thomas Hobbes or Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He continues to see himself as the measure of all things. The master, however, has not discovered his limitedness. Through defeat, the loser has become aware that he is not the objective standard of truth in the world he has achieved self-consciousness. Out of this life-and-death conflict emerges a master-slave relationship where the victor is master and the vanquished is slave. Therefore, although the clash begins as struggle to the death, the victor in the battle spares the life of the vanquished so that the loser may provide an external, objective witness to the power of the winner. In other words, each consciousness is trying to prove its worth to the other as well as to itself. In this struggle to determine the objective truth of itself, each consciousness seeks to establish the certainty of its being not only for itself but also for the other. In order to clarify this important distinction, the term “consciousness” will be used to refer to an unrelavitized independent entity throughout the remainder of this paper. ![]() An independent consciousness sees itself as a god-like measure of truth while a self-consciousness recognizes that it is relavitized by other individuals. Consciousness, while indicating that the individual is aware of his own perspective, does not concern itself with the perspective of other individuals. Self-consciousness indicates that an individual relativizes his perspective and therefore does not see his view as the only point of view. Although Hegel refers to each entity as a “self-consciousness”, the more appropriate term to describe each entity appears to be “consciousness”. Each self-consciousness must struggle with all its might in order to realize the extent of its strength in relation to the other. This affirmation of self-consciousness requires a struggle to the death because each self-consciousness can only become aware of Its limits by exerting itself to a maximum effort. Now, however, the presence of another self-consciousness establishes a new objective standard -the feelings, desires, and powers of each self-consciousness are subjective standards which must be measured against the new objective standards – the feelings, desires, and powers of the other. have been the objective standard by which all things encountered have been measured. Until the confrontation, each self-consciousness has seen itself as the measure of all things. ![]() The two self-consciousnesses must struggle because each one sees the other as a threat to itself. ![]() Hegel’s Master-Slave dialectic tells the story of two independent “self-consciousnesses” who encounter one another and engage in a life-and-death struggle. ![]() 68) Only by seeing ourselves in relation to other humans in society can we determine our sense of dignity and establish our place in the world which we live in. Solomon explains Hegel’s idea as such: “Human existence is primordially a matter of mutual recognition, and it is only through mutual recognition that we are self-aware and strive for the social meanings in our lives.” (Solomon, p. Hegel answers these questions of self-consciousness by introducing the idea that true self-consciousness is a product of society and culture which cannot be achieved merely through individual existence. How does an individual human being become conscious of his place in the universe? How can I become fully aware of what I am, and thereby validate my existence as a dignified human being? Is it possible to discover the true significance of my existence independent of other human beings? In his “Master-Slave dialectic” G.W.F. What does this passage show? Why is the struggle necessary? Assume an audience with no background in philosophy. Writing Objective: Write a 1,000-word paper on Hegel’s philosophy based on the passage of the dialectic of self-consciousness and the master-slave conflict. ![]()
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