Saber absoluto: por que a filosofia é seu próprio tempo apreendido no pensamento

Abstract

How can Hegel claim both that his philosophy is the contemplation of eternal truths and that all philosophy “is its own time grasped in thought”? It is argued here that the harmonization of these claims is the central thesis of the concluding chapter of the Phenomenology of Spirit, "Absolute Knowledge". Hegel's argument in this chapter is based on the idea that the universal (essence) cannot be separated from the way in which it is put into practice, which is a main result of the dialectical development of consciousness’ search for the unconditioned. It will be suggested that Hegel reconciles his two claims about philosophy by saying that absolute knowledge is “science”, i.e. modern, self-critical pursuit of knowledge, in so far as it is both universal and reflectively aware of itself as a result of historical practices, thus being “essence” and intrinsically contingent at the same time.