李榮添 : 歷史之理性 -- 黑格爾歷史哲學導論述析 ( Hoffmeister, Nisbet)

李榮添 : 歷史之理性 -- 黑格爾歷史哲學導論述析 ( Hoffmeister, Nisbet)
excerpted from Lectures on the Philosophy of World History : Introduction : Reason in History. tr. by Nisbet.
( Nisbet, page 32-33 )

the eastern way : 鳳翼天翔
1. Its Western counterpart is the realisation that the spirit too rises up again, not ony rejuvenated but also enhanced and transfigured (使變形; 使改觀 ).

2. Admittedly, it becomes divided against itself and destroys the form it earlier occupied, but in so doing, it rises up to a new stage of development. But when it abandons the shell of its former existence, it does not merely migrate into a new shell; it emerges as a purified spirit from the ashes of its earlier form.

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1. This is the second category of the spirit, the category of rejuvenation. The rejuvenation of the spirit is not just a return to an earlier shape; it is a purification or further elaboration of itself.

2. The solution of its problem creates new problems for it to solve, so that it multiplies the materials on which it operates. Thus we see how the spirit in history issues forth in innumerable directions, indulging ( 縱容 ) and satisfying itself in them all.

3. But the only result of its labour is that its activity is once more increased, and it is again consumed. Each of the creations in which it found temporary satisfaction presents itself in turn as a new material, challenging the spirit to develop it further still.

4. The forms it produced become the material on which it labours to raise itself up to new forms. It manifests all its powers in every possible way. We learn what powers it possesses from the very wealth of forms it produces. It this sheer delight in activity, it is entirely absorbed in itself.

5. Nature admittedly imposes internal and external limitations on it, and these not only resist it and place obstacles in its path but can even cause it to fail completely in its endeavours.

6. But even when it is frustrated, it remains true to its character as a spiritual being, a being whose end is not the finished product but the activity of production, so that it still affords the spectacle ( 景象; 奇觀 ) of having exhibited its active nature. 焚燒基本法港獨