For a while now, I have been developing an interest in phenomenology, which is the study of phenomena, the way that things are perceived by the conscious subject. As part of this interest, I've recently been reading Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit. While difficult at times to understand what Hegel is saying, the book is nevertheless fascinating to me, much like Heidegger and Sartre, whom I've also read. Having read those two authors, it seemed only natural that I should take on Hegel as well, considering the tremendous influence he has had on both of them, and on much of subsequent nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy.
In the Preface to Hegel's book, he mentions how the way for things to be known is to consider the object as subject; this is one of the ways that Hegel uses his famous triads, the best known of which is the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Subject and object are contraries; and the process of knowing comes about through their union. Hence the subject, who understands, can thus be considered the thesis; the object the antithesis; and the knowing as the synthesis. Hegel makes it the purpose of his book to fully explain this process in much greater detail.
But his statement about seeing the subject as object caught my attention as notable from a theological point of view. When the subject knows the object, the subject forms an image of the thing known in the mind of the knower. Hence if you know (for example) a ball, there is not actually a ball literally within your mind; it is the image of a ball. This concept is the basis for the famous painting "The Treachery of Images," which depicts a pipe, and under it, the caption reads (in French) "This is not a pipe." The point is that it was an image of a pipe, not an actual pipe. The like is the case when we know things. We know things by image; but the thing itself remains what it is, outside of our minds.
Yet the state of beatitude is actually rather different. Beatitude is when the subject comes to see God as God is, and is thus united to God. Since God alone is essentially good, God can only be known as essentially good; and if He is thus known, it is impossible not to love Him as such. The good is the proper object of love. Hence the subject is united to God such that he cannot possibly depart from God. To depart from God, were this possible, would require him to choose a lesser good over God. But since he sees God as God is, and knows that God is greater than all other things, he knows it would make no sense to choose anything over God. So the union with God in beatitude is permanent. It cannot be lost. The subject retains his free will in beatitude, but nevertheless never departs from this perfect union with God.
The union with God, however, is more than just a vision of God Himself. God Himself comes to be in the mind of the knower in His essence. When the subject knows created natures, he forms an image of the created nature in his mind; this was already said. But to know God in beatitude, God actually is present in His essence in the mind of the knower. It is not an image of God in the mind, but rather God Himself. This is the nature of beatitude; the nature of what it means to have a perfect union with God in eternity.
This relates to Hegel as follows. If God unites Himself to the subject in this way, then God (the object) becomes one with the subject. In other words, the subject becomes the object. This does not mean that the subject ceases to be who he is. It does not mean that the subject is "dissolved" into God, insofar as he ceases to be who he is. He remains who he is, and thus is essentially distinct from the Divine essence. Yet since he is united to God, he not only sees God, but sees things as God. And these things, in a sense, are one and the same. God perfectly sees all things in His own essence, such that His understanding of Himself is the same as His essence. Since God does all things perfectly, when He knows Himself, He does not merely form an image of Himself in His own mind; His understanding of Himself is His very essence Itself. Now if the created nature is united to God in beatitude, he not only sees God and sees all things in God, he sees all things as God sees all things. This is the sense in which seeing God and seeing things as God are one and the same. Hence the statement: "God became man so that man might become God."
This can also be experienced in life to an imperfect degree. The state of deification is when the subject is united to God, but does not see God as God is in his own intellect. When God is known in beatitude, He is in the intellect of the knower. But God can also enter the soul directly in life, without going through the intellect, so that God is with the subject, but the subject does not see God as God is. He knows God is with him, but his knowledge of God is imperfect. He still knows God "as it were through a glass in a dark manner." Yet insofar as he is united to God, he can have an imperfect experience not only of seeing God in higher contemplation, but also of seeing things as God sees them. This is a participation in God, however imperfect, and is meant to prepare the subject for the perfect participation that comes from God in beatitude.
I may have more observations about this as time goes on. As yet, I am still reading The Phenomenology of Spirit. I believe that I have not really made any errors in what I have said here, theologically or phenomenologically. Only time will tell what the future may hold. For now, this is the first major observation that I have made reading Hegel. Hopefully more such interesting observations will arise over time.
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