The concept of time in philosophy of Hegel

This thesis examines the status of human subject in Hegel's philosophy. Undoubtedly, the argument that Hegel perceives human subjects only as means to the realization of spirit stands as the main criticism directed towards Hegel's thinking. Yet another prominent interpretation of Hegel's system of philosophy stands as a direct contrast to such kind of a reading. According to this latter interpretation, which asserts that human subject's power of negation underlies Hegel's philosophy, the whole system of Hegel's thinking can be inferred from human subject's power of negation. Moreover, according to this perspective, the system itself is justification of this power of human subject. The purpose of this thesis is to object both arguments. Throughout the thesis, I intend to demonstrate that, in the system of philosophy constructed by Hegel, both human subject itself and also its activity are indispensable stages of spirit's realization of itself. Furthermore, I argue that, in the infinity of the system, activity of human subject (its negation) should take place constantly. In the last instance, in Hegel's system of philosophy which should be interpreted as philosophy of knowledge, a posteriori knowledge that arises from human subject's activity and a priori knowledge that emerges in the process in which spirit exposes itself are mutually constitutive of each other. Whereas a priori knowledge, which arises from the negation of a posteriori knowledge, lays the ground for human subject's acquisition of knowledge, a priori knowledge can only realize itself as a posteriori knowledge; and this can only be realized in human subject's negation. These being said, it is obvious that a posteriori knowledge, which arises when human subject negates, is a stage of self-realization of the spirit. Furthermore, it is apparent that negation should be perpetuated in order for system to remain infinite. Only in this way that the concept can last its infinite motion. Hegel, wipes out this problem by identifying time and concept. The meaning of time in Hegel's system of thinking is twofold: In the realm of consciousness, it is what human subject creates in its activity; in the realm of spirit, it is the a posteriori knowledge human subject reveals i.e. an empirical concept. Human subject, in its negation, realizes the time; it concretizes the concept. In this manner, the activity of human subject, which stands as a form of concept's self-realization, guarantees the infinity of the system by ensuring concept's motion. Concretization of the time in the activity of human subject is constant realization of the concept. In Hegel's system, the activity of human subject takes two main forms: labor and language. Whereas labor is the negation that human subject perform on the factual ground; language constitutes human subject's manner of negating this very factual ground. Thus, the language is the realm where the spirit fully realizes and signifies itself. Hence, philosophy in general and the system of philosophy that Hegel constructs realize in the realm of language.