Dieter Henrich’s emphasis on the via negationis offers a compelling interpretation of Being and Nothing in the Hegelian logical beginning, but it does not account for the inner necessity driving their development into Becoming. Drawing on Hegel’s retrospective justification of Being, this paper argues that the self-dialectic of mediation functions as the metalogic underlying Hegel’s logical beginning. First, by analyzing the self-dialectical operation of mediation, it demonstrates the internal n…
Read moreDieter Henrich’s emphasis on the via negationis offers a compelling interpretation of Being and Nothing in the Hegelian logical beginning, but it does not account for the inner necessity driving their development into Becoming. Drawing on Hegel’s retrospective justification of Being, this paper argues that the self-dialectic of mediation functions as the metalogic underlying Hegel’s logical beginning. First, by analyzing the self-dialectical operation of mediation, it demonstrates the internal necessity that underlies Hegel’s approach via negationis. Second, it proposes that Being and Nothing can be understood as the “im-mediate” poles generated by a contracting motion. Third, in the extreme intensity between Being and Nothing, it contends that Becoming emerges as the neutralization of polarization. Finally, this paper analyzes Hegel’s critique of the law of excluded middle by constructing a thought experiment to reveal the empirical truth of mediation and its self-dialectical operation.
