THE UNITY OF IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS THE ...

Thus we can see: (1) that mind and life have similar structures; (2) that mind
presents a more highly developed form of this structure; (3) that the structures of mind
and life involve unity and plurality, connection and distinction, synthesis and analysis; (4)
that in this combination of these oppositional moments, both mind and life present
paradoxes that closely resemble the paradox in the structure of judgment; and finally (5)
that at the time of the Systemfragment, Hegel believed these paradoxes presented
insoluble problems for philosophy. All of these points support the basic line of
interpretation presented in Chapters One through Four of this dissertation. Specifically,
they illustrate the central importance of the problem of the unity of identity and
difference for Hegel’s philosophy.
5) Differenzschrift: Apperception and the Absolute
In Differenzschrift, more than any other text, Hegel focuses on the relationship
between identity and difference as the central problem of philosophy. For instance, he
characterizes both the structure of self-consciousness and the structure of the absolute in
terms of the unity of identity and difference. He also equates the dichotomy of identity
and difference with (a) the dichotomy of the infinite and the finite and (b) the dichotomy
of the indeterminate and the determinate.
At various points throughout this essay, Hegel describes self-consciousness or
apperception in terms of the unity of unity and duality. For instance, at one point he says:
“If reflection grasps “I = I” as a unity, it must also, at the same time (zugleich), grasp it as
a duality. “I = I” is identity and duality at the same time (zugleich).” 252 Here, as in so
many other passages, Hegel presents the problem of grasping the unity of unity and
252 Werke 2. Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp. 1986. P. 55.
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