On the Process of Acquiring Individuality (Hegel - The Master-Slave Dialectic)
Mediator - The self as an absolute, pure solitary being exists only theoretically; we exist through interaction and relationships with others, so I define this as a mediator.
Likewise, the other as an absolute, pure solitary being may exist only theoretically, but when we recognize the other, we recognize them through the relationship with me.
As mediators, we exist while recognizing each other. Just as I am an individual being, the other is also an individual being.
If only I possessed an absolute and individual consciousness, and everyone else had only a consciousness inferior to mine, I would have to determine certain truth relying solely on my own judgment. (= dialectic)
Once we acknowledge that others also have an individual consciousness like me, we set out to find a truth that both sides can recognize.
But the problem is that in the real world, relations among different consciousnesses are not formed equally. One consciousness may recognize the other, while the reverse may not hold. A representative example is the relationship between master and slave. The slave recognizes the master as an individual consciousness, but the master never recognizes the slave.
A person without a slave has to live facing difficult tasks by themselves, but the master can get through the world by having slaves do them.
At this point, the master's self-consciousness is no longer a mediator.
Master's consciousness -> Slave's consciousness -> Other objects
Also, because the master who has gained a slave no longer fulfills his desire by directly relating to various things, but by enjoying only the results of the slave's labor, in a sense only the slave comes to know the proper aspect of things, while the master comes to know only the aspect processed by the slave.
For example, when cooking, the slave knows the cooking from beginning to end, but the master knows only the dish itself.
Paradoxically, as the master keeps ordering the slave around, he becomes a person more dependent than anyone else, unable to properly relate to the objects of this world except through the slave.
(=> This is how Chinese emperors communicated with the world only through eunuchs.)
Also, between master and slave, recognition in the true sense disappears. Recognition is no longer an exchange; only one-sided and unequal recognition remains, because it is not a recognition in which both sides equally possess individuality.
The master thinks that by being recognized by the slave he gains a consciousness with individuality, but in fact that recognition is merely the recognition of a subordinate slave, so the master ceases to be an individual consciousness.
At this point, I thought, the slave's consciousness has the potential to develop into a more individual consciousness than the master's.
Then what must the slave do to be reborn as an individual consciousness?
Deep Fear
Through the experience of having his life threatened by the master, the slave has already experienced anxiety and fear that shake his very existence. Through that experience, all fixed things within the slave can be shaken => a step toward awakening.
Because he knows he is a being that can die, he can rather clearly recognize what is given to himself.
Serving
The slave continues to serve the master. This means setting aside his own desires for a while and fulfilling the master's desires. At this point, he can learn to live not by naturally following his own desires, but by restraining them.
Labor
Through labor, he realizes that the objects of the world are not beings that are easily changed according to his will.
At some point, the slave may become conscious that the master is dependent on him and that he himself is the truly individual being. This is because the master has become a being who cannot live without the slave, whereas the slave has the power to live by relating directly to the objects of the world even without the master.
- A state with only fear
- A state of merely trembling in anxiety
- A state of having forgotten the deep fear
- A state of remaining merely skilled craftsmanship, not moving in the direction of realizing individuality
Topics: Hegel,Dialectic
Category: Scrap/Video
Related: _e.220913 λλ μκ°μ λ§λλ μ£Όμ²΄κ° μλλ€
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9tAzWygx9w