THE UNITY OF IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS THE ...

The “innermost secret” refers to the third moment of the will as that which unites the first
two moments without effacing their difference. It refers to the ability of thought to
conceive two moments “at the same time both in their abstraction and also in their perfect
unity.” It refers to the capacity of thought to grasp the unity of identity and difference.
Thus the unity of identity and difference presents the “the innermost secret of
speculation.” It presents the central riddle or task of speculative philosophy. The Science
of Logic, and even the entirety of Hegel’s philosophy, can be read as a series of attempts
to conceive the unity of identity and difference, the manner of unity exhibited by the third
moment of the will. This manner of unity does not merely characterize the will or the
self. It characterizes “the ultimate spring of all activity, life, and consciousness.” In the
Philosophy of Right, Hegel considers the unity of identity and difference in relation to
consciousness in its practical activities, in relation to the third moment of the will as that
which encompasses both the identity and difference of the first two moments. However,
the same basic structures occur in all living and active objects.
Chapters Two through Five explore the phrase, “the unity of identity and
difference,” at great length. This phrase designates the central riddle, puzzle, or paradox
that defines the notion. Genuine objects consist in the unity of identity and difference.
They must contain plurality within a genuine unity. The understanding “persists in
calling [such unity] inconceivable.” However, according to Hegel, reason or speculation
is capable of grasping this unity. It is capable of solving the riddle designated by the
phrase, the unity of identity and difference, and thus it is capable of explaining the
structure of the notion.
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