‘Positive and negative are supposed to express an absolute difference. The two however are at bottom the same: the name of either might be transferred to the other. Thus, for example, debts and assets are not two particular, self-subsisting species of property. What is negative to the debtor is positive to the creditor. A way to the east is also a way to the west. Positive and negative are therefore intrinsically conditioned by one another, and are only in relation to each other. The north pole of the magnet cannot be without the south pole, and vice versa. If we cut a magnet in two, we have not a north pole in one piece, and a south pole in the other. Similarly, in electricity, the positive and the negative are not two diverse and independent fluids. In opposition, the different is not confronted by any other, but by its other. …the aim of philosophy is to banish indifference, and to ascertain the necessity of things. By that means the other is seen to stand over against its other.’
G.W.F.Hegel, Hegel’s Logic, Trans., William Wallace, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1975, 173-174
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Brilliant. The evening news updates us on the Mega-Corp Wars. U.S. vs. Islamic State, E.U. vs. Russia — it is as if Coke and Pepsi, or Google and Yahoo, have standing armies and are going after each other with cruel ferocity…
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Hi Robert, It is, to use Hegel’s words, ‘the tremendous power of the (ultimately impersonal) negative’ – the engine of the universe – at work. Best wishes and congratulations on the achievements of your multi-skilled creativity. Phil
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Thanks Phil, same to you!
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