Science of Logic

Hegel's work "The Science of Logic" outlined his vision of logic, which is an ontology that incorporates the traditional Aristotelian syllogism as a sub-component rather than a basis. For Hegel, the most important achievement of German Idealism, starting with Kant and culminating in his own philosophy, was the demonstration that reality is shaped through and through by mind and, when properly understood, is mind. Thus ultimately the structures of thought and reality, subject and object, are identical. And since for Hegel the underlying structure of all of reality is ultimately rational, logic is not merely about reasoning or argument but rather is also the rational, structural core of all of reality and every dimension of it. Thus Hegel's "Science of Logic" includes among other things analyses of being, nothingness, becoming, existence, reality, essence, reflection, concept, and method. As developed, it included the fullest description of his dialectic. Hegel considered it one of his major works and therefore kept it up to date through revision. "The Science of Logic" is sometimes referred to as the "Greater Logic" to distinguish it from the condensed version of it he presented in what is called the "Lesser Logic", namely the Logic section of his "Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences".

Editions of "Science of Logic"

*translated by W. H. Johnston and L. G. Struthers. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1929
*translated by Henry S. Macran ("Hegel's Logic of World and Idea") (Bk III Pts II, III only. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1929
*translated by A. V. Miller, Foreword by J. N. Findlay. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1969

econdary literature

*Hartnack, Justus, 1998. "An Introduction to Hegel's Logic". Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN 0-87220-424-3
*Wallace, Robert M., 2005. "Hegel's Philosophy of Reality, Freedom, and God". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-84484-3.
*Houlgate, Stephen, 2006. "The Opening of Hegel's Logic: From Being to Infinity". Purdue University Press
* Carlson, David, 2007. "A Commentary on Hegel's Science of Logic". Palgrave MacMillan. 978-1403986283

External links

*Source text (German) Wissenschaft der Logik [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6729 Vol. 1] [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6834 Vol. 2]

* [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/ollindex.htm Outline of Hegel's Logic at marxists.org]

* (commentary at Wikisource)