A Study On The Development Of Young Hegel’s Logic And Metaphysics Thoughts

Speculative Logic is the unity of Logic and Ontology. It occupies the central position in Hegel’s system of thought and has received attention from academic circles. As a unique theory, Speculative Logic experienced a long forming process in Hegel’s Ideological Process. It will be difficult for us to understand speculative Logic if we don’t have a general knowledge on its formation process. In fact, Logic and Metaphysics are two independent parts before the formation of Speculative Logic. It is the merging of Logic and Metaphysics that leads to the Speculative Logic come into being. Logic and metaphysics present different features in different times, which make them come gradually closer to each other. Thus, in order to reveal the tendency of the gradual union of Logic and metaphysics, the present thesis explores the characters of Logic and Metaphysics as well as the specific relationship between Logic and Metaphysics in young Hegel’s different phases. The developments of Logic and Metaphysics are divided into three periods in present thesis which are shown in three parts of the paper correspondingly.“Chapter I Before Jena period: Contrary States”. In this period, Logic and Metaphysics developed in a contrary state. On the one hand, Hegel rejected Logic, and on the other hand, Hegel developed Metaphysics. Hegel adhered to the faith in monism, so he insisted on developing Metaphysics. The reason why he rejected Logic is that Hegel’s understanding of the Logic confined to formal Logic. While formal Logic conflicted with his Monism. Theoretical pattern including reflective philosophy can’t achieve truly understanding toward Metaphysics due to the intellectual characteristics of formal Logic. So Hegel took religious practice as a starting point to develop Metaphysics. He excavated the thought of love and life from religious theory. Then Metaphysics of love and life were established in succession. Love, which is subjective, can’t overcome the contradictions of reality, thus it was surpassed by Life. As an objective theory, Life promoted Hegel’s transition from practice to theory, which made preparations for the subsequent establishment of philosophy system. What’s more, the opposite relationship between logic and metaphysics embodied in the germination of Dialectic.“Chapter II Early Jena period: Initial Union”. The initial Union of Logic and Metaphysics appeared first as: Hegel offered courses of Logic and Metaphysics after he entered the Jena University. At the same time, he took the two as the first part of philosophy system to construct. Transforming Logic was the initial premise of the change of the relationship between Logic and Metaphysics from Contrary States to Preliminary Union. The reason that motivated Hegel to transform Logic was the development of Logic theory represented by Reinhold. Hegel’s intention was to eliminate understanding through Logic and then transit to reason, namely Metaphysics field. Therefore, Logic functioned as introductory of Metaphysics. Hegel constructed his own Logic framework with partially reference to Kant’s Logic. By criticizing the intellectual characteristics of Common Logic, “negative aspect of reason” was eventually achieved. And then the critical nature of Logic was established. Hegel’s Metaphysics, the main line of which was to explore the speculative metaphysics in the history of philosophy, was on the basis of Life and had the feature of old Metaphysics. It was similar to Spinoza’s Metaphysics. With the development of Logic and Metaphysics, dialectical thoughts were somewhat carried forward. All the above aspects show that it was only an initial union of Logic and Metaphysics in this period.“Chapter III Late Jena period: In-depth Union”. That Hegel began to solve cognition, a fundamental problem, provided possibilities for the in-depth union of Logic and Metaphysics. Hegel found the theoretical value of the principle of conscious activity and the Ontological Characteristics of cognition through Kantian philosophy and Fichte’s Philosophy. Therefore, Hegel re-constructed Logic and Metaphysics with the theme of cognition. The framework and elements of Logic made a breakthrough deepening and expansion based on early Jena Logic. Logic constructed the elements of cognition by logic links, and then finally achieved absolutely infinite cognition. So Logic was constructive Logic in nature. Hegel established the absolute spirit as the highest idea of Metaphysics. By making cognition ontological, the Metaphysics in this period became Metaphysics of Subjectivity by surpassing Metaphysics of Objectivity. Because Logic established the form of infinite cognition, and Metaphysics established the Ontology of infinite cognition, thus Logic became the foundation of Metaphysics functionally. The foundation was more necessary than the function of introduction of the previous Logic. The in-depth Union of Logic and Metaphysics was also embodied in the establishment of Dialectic. In one word, it was the comprehensively innovative development of Logic and Metaphysics that made them realize the in-depth union.A conclusion could be drawn from the above three developing periods: as the union of Logic and Ontology, Speculative Logic represented the process of gradual development of the two parts of Logic and Metaphysics in Hegel’s youthful period, and they showed the trends towards integration by their relations: from Contrary States to Initial Union and then to In-depth Union.