The Logic of Incarnation: Hegel's use of Plato's Philebus in the Shorter Logic and in the Lectures on Philosophy of Religion (original) (raw)

In Philebus, Plato depicts Socrates and Protarchus (pages 24a to 26d) engaged in the question of how the finite is equated with the determined, and the infinite is presented as that which has no limits, as the undetermined. This discussion will be an explicit reference for Hegel both in his Shorter Logics and in his Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion. In the former, Plato’s Philebus is used as a reference on the question of determination and actuality, as it is presented in §89 to §95 of the Doctrine of Being, the first part of the Hegelian treatment of Logics. Those paragraphs deal with the specific question of determinate being and here, Hegel affirms tow things: first, that the distinction between the finite and the infinite is a nullity; second, he criticizes the idea that, within the unity of the finite with the infinite, the latter remains as the negative aspect. However, Plato’s text is also explicitly quoted in Hegel’s Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, specifically in the Lectures of 1824, in a section called “The Transition to the Speculative Standpoint of Religion”. What Hegel calls the “speculative standpoint”, is precisely the only point of view in which one can grasp the truth of religion, namely, the relation between God and men, that is, of the infinite and the finite. In addition to that, in the very same Lecture, Hegel defines the Incarnation of God [Menschwerdung Gottes] as the “speculative midpoint” of the Christian religion (HEGEL, 2007, v1 p. 245). Following this path, therefore, it is possible to argue that Hegel uses Plato’s Philebus again, in the Lectures, to expose what he calls the “speculative standpoint of religion” as the dialectics between the finite and the infinite within God’s own being. Here, the narrative on the Incarnation of God presented by Hegel is analysed as culminating point in the process of determination and actualization of the concept of God. The aim of this article is to explore the possible relations between those two uses in order to find a common Hegelian approach between logics and religion and, therefore, to explore a possible interpretation on the logics of the Incarnation of God.