The problem of ontology in Hegel's Science of Logic – Introduction (Napoli: Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici Press, 2024)

Abstract

This essay is the Introduction to a book dedicated to reconstructing the problem of ontology in Hegel's Science of Logic. The Introduction seeks to explain why “ontology” became a problem for Hegel and clarifies the contexts and precise meaning of this problematization after Hegel. In doing so, it emphasizes the relevance and “untimely timeliness” of the Science of Logic for the critical self-understanding of philosophical thought. As for the structure of the book, Chapter 1 addresses the formal features of the Hegelian transformation of the ontology of old: critique, immanence, reconstruction, speculative idealism, system. To discuss the connection between the notion of a “critical ontology” and the operative concept of “presuppositionlessness,” Chapter 2 examines the issues and figures related to the possibility of a transcendental interpretation of Hegel’s Logic. Finally, Chapter 3 maps the contemporary debate surrounding metaphysical and non-metaphysical interpretations of the Logic and proposes an autonomous reconstruction of the task of transforming metaphysics into a dialectical-speculative science of objective thoughts.