THE UNITY OF IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS THE ...

which the individual participates, on the other hand. He claims that a person only
becomes a “genuine” individual within the context of the state, and thus membership in
the state is not optional. Among other things, this means the desires of the individual
cannot be determined or characterized in isolation from society, at least once society has
reached the stage of development achieved in the modern state.
It should be noted, however, that Hegel also emphasizes the dependence of
society on the individual. In the final sentence he says that the actions and interests of the
individual have the state as “their starting point and their result.” Social reality forms and
constitutes the desires of the individual. At the same time, the desires of the individual
form and constitute social reality. This reciprocal relation should not be construed
merely in causal terms. While social reality plays a causal role in determining the desires
and actions of individuals, and while the desires and actions of individuals play a causal
role in determining social reality, the unity of the state presupposes a more intimate
connection between the individual and social reality, one in which there is an essential
relation between the meaning, structure, and nature of these two moments. 340
If two facets of reality stand in a reciprocal causal relation, the facets can still be
characterized in isolation from one another. This unity merely consists in an external
causal relation. By contrast, Hegel holds that social reality constitutes the very structure
and nature of desire, and at the same time, he holds the desires of individuals partially
determine the meaning of the social customs, institutions, and artifacts that constitute
340 In the Encyclopedia Logic, Hegel expresses the limitations of causal reciprocity for conceiving
social reality. He says: “To make, for example, the manners of the Spartans the cause of their constitution
and their constitution conversely the cause of their manners, may no doubt be correct. But, as we have
comprehended neither the manners nor the constitution of the nation the result can never be final or
satisfactory. The satisfactory point will be reached only when these two, as well as all other, special
aspects of Spartan life and Spartan history are seen to be founded in this notion” (Paragraph 156Z).
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