صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

being, re-appeared as Reality, and Nothing acting on Being, but in There-being, re-appeared as Negation; Being acting on Nothing, but in Something, manifested itself as Ansichseyn, in itself-ness, the Something's own being, and Nothing acting on Being, but in the Something, manifested itself as the Being-for-other, the Being of the Something when under the negation of another, that is, relatively to another, and so on.

REMARK.

'The usual separation of these Quantities.

In the ordinary figurate conceptions of continuous and discrete magnitude, it escapes notice that each of these magnitudes has in it both moments, as well continuity as discretion, and that their difference depends only on which is the explicit determinateness, and which that that is only in itself. Time, Space, Matter, &c., are continuous magnitudes in that they are repulsions from themselves, a fluent Coming-out-of-self, that is at the same time not a going over or a relation to a qualitative other. They possess an absolute possibility of One being set anywhere and everywhere in them; this not as the empty possibility of a mere otherwiseness (as if one should say, it were possible that in place of this stone there were a tree); but they possess the principle of the One in themselves, it is the One of the factors which compose them.

'Conversely in the case of discrete quantity the presence of continuity is not to be overlooked; this moment, as has been shown, is One as oneness.

'Continuous and discrete magnitudes are capable of being regarded as species of Quantity, only if the magnitude is not set under any external determinateness (as a certain So-much), but under the peculiar distinctions

or determinatenesses of its own moments; the ordinary transition from genus to species is such as to render the former liable to the ascription of external distinctions dependent on some distributive principle external to it. Withal, continuous and discrete magnitudes are not quanta; they are only Quantity itself in each of its two forms. They may be named magnitudes so far, perhaps, as they have this in common with the Quantum, that they are a peculiar determinateness in Quantity.'

This Remark is also an exact translation, and little comment seems necessary. The One as Oneness is continuity; Oneness as One is discretion. The distinctions. will not remain in dry self-identity: the Geometrical point is potential space, Attraction is Repulsion, Repulsion is Motion, &c., and the question always is, which elementary distinction is overt, express, explicit, ostensive, and which latent, implicit, indicated, indirect, &c.? Setzen contains the whole mystery: the Moon here is always either full or new. A concrete must have difference and identity; mere difference were dissolution, and mere identity were equally extinction. Space has both principles; so also Time; and these, though both pure Quantities, are still different. The One and the Many of Space are at once and together. The One of Time never is and always is; its One is its Many, its Many its One Time is thus a symbol of the Absolute.

C.

LIMITATION OF QUANTITY.

'The discrete magnitude has firstly the One as its principle, and is secondly Multiplicity of the Ones; thirdly, it is essentially continuous, it is the One at the same time as a sublated one, as oneness, self-continuation as such in the discretion of the Ones. It is set, therefore,

as a Magnitude, and the peculiar determinateness of such magnitude is the one which in this position and particular Being is excludent one-limit in the unity. The discrete magnitude as such is supposed to be immediately not limited; but as distinguished from the continuous magnitude it is as a There-being (a special Beingness) and a Something, the determinateness of which is the one which one as in a There-being is also first Negation and Limit.

This limit, besides being referred to the unity, and besides being negation in this unity, is as one also referred to itself, and thus it is encompassing and containing limit. The limit distinguishes itself not in the first instance here from the Something of its Therebeing, but is as one immediately this negative point itself. But the Being that is here limited is essentially as continuity, by virtue of which it is beyond the limit and this one, and is in that regard indifferent. The real discrete Quantity is thus a Quantity, or Quantum, -Quantity as a There-being and Something.

6

In that the one which is limit, contains the many ones of the discrete quantity within itself, it sets these no less as sublated within it; it is thus limit in the continuity as such, and so the difference between continuous and discrete magnitude is here indifferent; or more correctly, it is limit in the continuity of the one, as much as in that of the other; in it both undergo transition into Quanta.'

These three paragraphs (of C) are exactly translated, but sufficiently difficult. Intelligence must be sought sub specie æterni in the first instance-we must return to look again at the indifferent absolute One with which we entered Quantity. The One, the many Ones, the one One: all lies there; these are the 1, 2, 3 with

[ocr errors]

which Hegel starts. In the indifferent life of the absolute One now, the One, the Unit, is still as the principle, but it continues, or is the many Ones, and also when it refers back to these and the series of these, it is one One and a Quantity, or Quantum. In its indifference it is certainly essentially continuous;' it is the One as sublated One, as Unity;' it is its own 'selfcontinuation in the discretion of the Ones.' It is thus a quantity, and the peculiar specificity of this quantity depends on the One that is its limit. A Ten depends on the tenth. This One (the tenth) is seen also to be the excludent One. The quantity to which this One is limit is characterised as Daseyn, as Etwas, and as dieses Gesetztseyn. Etwas is, of course, translated only Something; Daseyn now as There-being (special Beingness), and again as particular Being. As for Gesetztseyn, it will be found translated on this occasion, and not infelicitously, by in this position.' But why these words are used in this place requires a word of explanation. The key to the whole lies in what has taken place: the One is One, as continued it is many Ones, but as continued it is also one One. Now this last step is as a reflexion from other or others into self; but that is precisely the constitution of Something. Again, the continuance through the series of the Ones is a Werden, a Becoming, while its suspension (by the reflexion alluded to) gives rise to a Daseyn, a There-being, a definite relative So-ness. Lastly, the reflexion is a Setzen, and the result is a Gesetztseyn; the reflexion is only an explicitation of what was before implicit, and the result is a new explicitness, a new position, where this last word may be considered an equivoque of and between its ordinary and its logical

senses.

It will not be difficult to see now, then, that

[ocr errors]

discrete magnitude, passing through these reflexions, has become a Magnitude, the precise value or determinateness of which depends on the One from which the reflexion back was made; this one is the limit or the excludent one in the new position, or special Thereness which has been just effected through the reflexion. The tenth one in a ten will readily illustrate all this. The tenth one is the limit, the excludent one, the barrier that stops entrance to all other ones; but it is the reflexion of this tenth one into the other ones that gives birth to the particular and peculiar and every way unique and special quantity Ten or a Ten; the whole acquires the edge, the specificity of this one; each of the other ones is as it-a tenth; each of the other ones is it; from it is the new explicitation, the new position, the new There-ness, the new Something-Ten. The Ten is at first as ten units-discrete without any definite boundary line-but these ten as distinguished from the possible continuation or continuity onwards into and through other units, are a special definite Thereness and So-ness, a special definite Something of which the One (the tenth) is at once the specificity, and also -as in a There-being (negated, suspended Becoming) -the first negation and limit. Thus far the first paragraph; which being thoroughly understood, the two remaining ones will not be difficult. The reader, however, may object here-why the digression?-why leap from the very absolute of absolutes to a thing so very everyday and common as the number Ten ? We answer, there is no necessity for the digression; all must still be conceived as sub specie æterni; the number ten is but an empirical illustration. The life, so to speak, of the qualitative One, now a quantitative One, is still to be pursued by the clue and the virtue of the

« السابقةمتابعة »