Speculative Reason verses Mysticism

Speculative Reason versus Mysticism

Dr.Abdul Lathief

http://lathief1.tripod.com

Hegel in Encyclopedia criticizes the popular view held equating immediate knowledge with mysticism and makes mysticism synonymous with speculative reason.

“Speculative truth, it may also be noted, means very much the same as what, in special connection with religious experience and doctrines, used to be called Mysticism. The term Mysticism is at present used, as a rule, to designate what is mysterious and incomprehensible: and in proportion as their general culture and way of thinking vary, the epithet is applied by one class to denote the real and the true, by another to name everything connected with superstition and deception. On which we first of all remark that there is mystery in the mystical, only however for the understanding which is ruled by the principle of abstract identity; whereas the mystical, as synonymous with the speculative, is the concrete unity of those propositions which understanding only accepts in their separation and opposition. And if those who recognise Mysticism as the highest truth are content to leave it in its original utter mystery, their conduct only proves that for them too, as well as for their antagonists, thinking means abstract identification, and that in their opinion, therefore truth can only be won by renouncing thought, or as it is frequently expressed, by leading the reason captive.”(§SL82n –logic-Encyclopedia)

“Thirdly and lastly, the immediate consciousness of God goes no further than to tell us that he is: to tell us what he is would be an act of cognition, involving mediation. So that God as an object of religion is expressly narrowed down to the indeterminate supersensible, God in general: and the significance of religion is reduced to a minimum.”-($73-Logic-Encyclopedia)

It is true that mystical knowledge is not the mere knowledge of “God Is” but also involves the knowledge of “What He Is”.In other words mystic knowledge involves both immediate and mediated knowledge.But this does not make it synonymous with speculative reason.It is true that speculative reason transcend the contradiction of discursive reason.Speculative reason can resolve or sublate the abstract identity and difference involved in understanding and synthesize unity of thought.Still speculative is intellectual knowledge.This means speculative reason can produce unity in knowledge but still can leave the person untransformed.as he is before.This means a speculative philosopher may remain all his life one changed in consciousness but unaltered as a person.

Mystical knowledge is neither the same as speculative reason nor can be attained with speculative reason alone.According to all mystical traditions there are two main pre requisites for this knowledge along with the grace and guidance of a mystic master.

One is discrimination.This is same as speculative reason.The ability to reason the reality of things.To transcend the contradictions of the understanding and to distinguish and discriminate the real from the unreal.

The second is renunciation.This is not only renouncing sensual pleasures and desire for fame and power but also renouncing the false ego by sublimation and submission of individual will to the absolute will and trying to think and do everything from the perspective of the Absolute will.

Another main distinction of mysticism from speculative reason is speculative reason can be attained by personal effort by one who is intelligent and has a bent towards philosophical knowledge and from the books of speculative philosophers.

But mystic state cannot be guaranteed even after speculative reason and total renunciation.According to all mystical traditions the guidance and the grace of a master is absolutely necessary for attainment.Active work and personal effort only leads upto a point.beyond that it is a spontaneous happening.But usually this personal efforts will leads to the Grace of God and Guru(Master).

Now mystical state differs from speculative reason in that mystical knowledge is Existential or experiential or living knowledge.By experience I do not mean mere empirical knowledge but the Hegelian definition what ever in consciousness is experienced”.

The mystic experience the unity in diversity and also the distinction in the unity.As the I is both universal and particular he will experience the oneness with the whole and also the uniqueness of each one.

It is true that the absolute mind is acting through every one but in each one it act uniquely and differently and also according to the capacities and potentialities of the individual.Implicitly the same absolute mind acts but explicitly in every individual it acts according to the evolution and development of the individual as subjective free mind or other still undeveloped form of subjective mind ,objective mind or absolute mind.In the mystic it acts in its full development explicitly,what hegel calls as philosophic mind or rather as mystic mind.I make this distinction because in speculative philosopher as philosophic mind the absolute mind intellectually aware of the unity and diversity but in mystic philosopher it experiences this unity and diversity.The mystic mind acts and lives according to this experience.

This living experience make it possible for the mystic to identify and ensoul the whole universe and acts from the global perspective.When even a plant or animal is destroyed or when some one was treated unjustly any where the mystic experience the pain and bleeding in himself and act according to this perspective.The experience of the absolute mind as a higher category than the subjective or objective mind also make it possible for the mystic to act fearlessly and truthfully.Experience of immortality,life and death as a lower category and objective mind as a lower category make them experience the superiority of the mystic mind over monarchs and international political leaders.

This is better illustrated by the following example of the mystic philosopher Socrates whose fearlessness of the Athenian democratic regime and his drinking of the cup of hemlock from the jailer and the speculative philosopher Hegel and his waiting for hours with respect and awe to see Napoleon passing through the street and also his encounter with Frederich Wilhelm IV and his apologic ,fearfull and false attitude..

“Hegel might have been the greatest philosopher, but he was certainly not courageous in this case. Confronted to this direct attack, he apologized to the Kronprinz and declared that he was "unaware of the content of Gans' lectures". This is absurd; a sort of humiliating self-exculpation. Even though Hegel might have never followed a Gans' lecture directly, it is not plausible that nobody -- among colleagues or students (including Hegel's own son Karl) -- had never drawn his attention to Gans' political orientation or that he had never realized himself who his teaching assistant actually was.(Hegel Biography-Hegel-Net)”

The End

Appendix

1- Hegel Groups-Yahoo-Mr.Paul Trejo's Post

> It is true that mystical knowledge is not the mere
> knowledge of "God Is" but also involves the knowledge
> of "What He Is". In ther words mystic knowledge involves
> both immediate and mediated knowledge. But this does not
> make it synonymous with speculative reason.

But Hegel says that it does, Dr. Lathief. On what grounds
do you contradict Hegel? Let us see.

> It is true that speculative reason transcend the
> contradiction of discursive reason. Speculative reason
> can resolve or sublate the abstract identity and difference
> involved in understanding and synthesize unity of thought.
> Still speculative is intellectual knowledge. This means
> speculative reason can produce unity in knowledge but still
> can leave the person untransformed, as he is before. This
> means a speculative philosopher may remain all his life one
> changed in consciousness but unaltered as a person.

That is hasty, Dr. Lathief, since you presume, without proof,
that the intellectual cannot attain the spiritual transformation
that a Knowledge of the Absolute attains. But Hegel says that
one can. More than that, Hegel *proves* that one can, and his
System proves his claim. Hegel speaks of the very *joy* of
this *experienced* transformation, saying:

"The joy of beholding itself in Absolute
Being enters self-consciousness and seizes
the whole world; for it is Spirit. It is
the simple movement of those pure moments
which expresses just this: that only when
Absolute Being is beheld as an immediate
Self-consciousness is it known as Spirit."
(Hegel, PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT, 1807,
trans. Miller, 1977, para. 761)

The trouble comes when people do not bother to read Hegel's
full System, or they try to get its meaning from secondary
literature, or from Marxists or from Kantians or from
postmodernists. That is a futile effort, and it has been
futile for more than 170 years. The only proper way to
understand Hegel is to read Hegel's System.

> Mystical knowledge is neither the same as speculative reason
> nor can be attained with speculative reason alone.

You assert this, Dr. Lathief, but you do not prove it. Your
statement is therefore dogmatic since it is not given in the
philosophical spirit of debate, wherein proofs are expected.

> According to all mystical traditions there are two main
> pre-requisites for this knowledge along with the grace and
> guidance of a mystic master...

So, instead proceeding to proofs, Dr. Lathief, you moved
directly to Authoritarianism as your only argument. That
suggests to me that your Doctorate is in Divinity and not
in Philosophy. Hegel speaks at length on the encounter that
his Philosophy of Spirit must have with Theology. In the
history of Theology, perhaps it was only during the medieval
Christian era that Theologians were willing to consider the
possibility that Philosophy could be something other than a
mere handmaiden.

> ...One is discrimination. This is same as speculative
> reason. The ability to reason the reality of things...

No, Dr. Lathief, you have not demonstrated your point.
It is possible to argue that Discrimination is the same
as the Pure Understanding, which Kant and Hegel carefully
distinguished from Speculative Reason. You simply assert
your opinion, and leave it at that.

> The second is renunciation. This is not only renouncing
> sensual pleasures and desire for fame and power but also
> renouncing the false ego by sublimation and submission of
> individual will to the absolute will and trying to think
> and do everything from the perspective of the Absolute will.

Hegel has already dealt with this phenomenon under the
category of the Unhappy Consciousness, Dr. Lathief.
Nevertheless, you have still not demonstrated that Hegel
was wrong when he said that Mysticism (correctly understood)
and Speculation (correctly understood) are the same. You
have simply denied it on authoritarian grounds.

> Another main distinction of mysticism from speculative
> reason is speculative reason can be attained by personal
> effort by one who is intelligent and has a bent towards
> philosophical knowledge and from the books of speculative
> philosophers. But mystic state cannot be guaranteed even
> after speculative reason and total renunciation.

Your assertion here has the certainty of the Unhappy
Consciousness, Dr. Lathief, but it contradicts Hegel
without proofs. You dismiss Hegel on the authoritarian
grounds of your theology.

Every Western student of Philosophy knows that debate and
Reason are the necessary components of Philosophy. When
somebody renounces Reason, or marginalizes Reason, or finds
something beyond Reason to pursue, that person renounces
Philosophy itself.

That is why people who choose to follow a Guru and believe
everything they are told may do well in Theology, but that
has nothing to do with Philosophy.

Hegel makes that very clear in the introduction to his
lectures on THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY (1830). Philosophy
has no Guru. Hegel is not a Guru. Hegel is a Free Thinker
who encourages students to Think For Themselves.

> According to all mystical traditions the guidance and
> the grace of a master is absolutely necessary for
> attainment. Active work and personal effort only leads
> up to a point. Beyond that it is a spontaneous happening.
> But usually this personal efforts will leads to the Grace
> of God and Guru (Master).

Despite the fact that you defer to authority, Dr. Lathief,
as a theologian you are familiar with the literature (and
perhaps also the personal experiences) of spiritual
development. That means that you can see for yourself
that when Hegel speaks about Unity in Diversity and
Diversity in Unity that he is speaking in terms that
the spiritually developed person can recognize. So it
must be clear to you that Hegel knows of what he speaks.

> The mystic experience the unity in diversity and also
> the distinction in the unity. As the 'I' is both
> universal and particular, he will experience the
> oneness with the whole and also the uniqueness of
> each one...

The contradiction in your post, Dr. Lathief, is that
you said above that the intellect is incapable of
attaining the Knowledge of God, and yet you yourself
are writing intellectual formulas like this to describe
this very Knowledge.

> It is true that the absolute mind is acting through
> every one but in each one it acts uniquely and
> differently and also according to the capacities
> and potentialities of the individual.

That does not contradict Hegel, Dr. Lathief. Hegel
never implies that each individual will attain the power
of God merely by recognizing that the Whole is God. That
would be absurd. Hegel clearly states that he, as one who
offers this great intellectual attainment, is like all
other mortals, only 'a child of his own time.'

But Hegel also maintains that each individual has the
propensity to realize the Universality of God and the
brotherhood and sisterhood of all humanity, not merely
as a bromide, but as a completely fulfilling experience,
including intellectual fulfillment. To this end he
offers his unique Ontological Proofs for the existence,
that is, for the Actuality of God.

> Implicitly the same absolute mind acts but explicitly
> in every individual it acts according to the evolution
> and development of the individual as subjective free
> mind or other still undeveloped form of subjective mind,
> objective mind or absolute mind.

Again, Dr. Lathief, you reserve for yourself the right
to say intellectual things about the Absolute, so why
do you deny this same right to Hegel's Speculative
Philosophy? That is clearly a contradiction on your
part.

> In the mystic it acts in its full development explicitly,
> what Hegel calls as philosophic mind or rather as mystic
> mind. I make this distinction because in speculative
> philosopher as philosophic mind the absolute mind
> intellectually aware of the unity and diversity but
> in mystic philosopher it experiences this unity and
> diversity. The mystic mind acts and lives according
> to this experience...
>
> lathief

Nevertheless, Dr. Lathief, you fail to recognize that
Hegel, also, distinguishes between the mere reading of
these terms and the personal experience of the Absolute.
I will leave you with Hegel's words again:

"The joy of beholding itself in Absolute
Being enters Self-consciousness and
seizes the whole world; for it is Spirit."
(Hegel, PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT, 1807,
trans. Miller, 1977, para. 761)

Regards,
--Paul Trejo, M.A.

2-My Reply

>Hegel *proves* that one can, and his
>System proves his claim. Hegel speaks of the very *joy* of
>this *experienced* transformation, saying:
>"The joy of beholding itself in Absolute
>Being enters self-consciousness and seizes
>the whole world; for it is Spirit. It is
>the simple movement of those pure moments
>which expresses just this: that only when
>Absolute Being is beheld as an immediate
>Self-consciousness is it known as Spirit."
(Hegel, PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT, 1807,
trans. Miller, 1977, para. 761)

Yes,it is true MR.Paul,But you have conveniently forgotten that it is not the speculative philosopher hegel's experience but the immediate experience of god is as i already told and which hegel describe in chapter of "revealed religion"and below is the next para which you might have missed

"This conception of spirit knowing itself to be spirit, is still the immediate notion; it is not yet developed. The ultimate Being is spirit; in other words, it has appeared, it is revealed. This first revelation is itself immediate; but the immediacy is likewise thought, [762] or pure mediation, and must therefore exhibit and set forth this moment in the sphere of immediacy as such."-Phenomenology-revealed religion-762.

>The trouble comes when people do not bother to read Hegel'sfull System,

>The only proper way tounderstand Hegel is to read Hegel's System.

yes,you are absolutly right Mr. Paul,as the above example shows.

> ...One is discrimination. This is same as speculative
> reason. The ability to reason the reality of things...

>No, Dr. Lathief, you have not demonstrated your point.
>It is possible to argue that Discrimination is the same
>as the Pure Understanding, which Kant and Hegel carefully
>distinguished from Speculative Reason

This is your ignorence of mystical traditon Mr.Paul.Discrimination is same as speculative reason as attested by none other than the greatest maste of ADVAITA(Monism)Shankara.

> The second is renunciation. This is not only renouncing
> sensual pleasures and desire for fame and power but also
> renouncing the false ego by sublimation and submission of
> individual will to the absolute will and trying to think
> and do everything from the perspective of the Absolute will.

>Hegel has already dealt with this phenomenon under the
>category of the Unhappy Consciousness.

This is again you ignorance of Mystical renunciation Mr. Paul.It is not same as the unhappy self consiousnees of Stoicism or or negated abstract ego,but concrete ego or Absolute mind manifesting with all His glory through the the mystic.

>Every Western student of Philosophy knows that debate and
>Reason are the necessary components of Philosophy. When
>somebody renounces Reason, or marginalizes Reason, or finds
>something beyond Reason to pursue, that person renounces
>Philosophy itself

No one is saying to renounce reason Mr.Paul.what i said is very clear .alomg with discrimination or speculative reason the other component is renunciationof the false ego so not renunciation of reason.

>That means that you can see for yourself
>that when Hegel speaks about Unity in Diversity and
>Diversity in Unity that he is speaking in terms that
>the spiritually developed person can recognize. So it
>must be clear to you that Hegel knows of what he speaks

yes, iknow it and i already told so Mr.Paul.what Iam saying again and again is the intellectual Knowledge of the speculative philosopher hegel's unity and diversity is not the same as the living experience of mystic's these things.

>The contradiction in your post, Dr. Lathief, is that
>you said above that the intellect is incapable of
>attaining the Knowledge of God, and yet you yourself
>are writing intellectual formulas like this to describe
>this very Knowledge.

>Again, Dr. Lathief, you reserve for yourself the right
>to say intellectual things about the Absolute, so why
>do you deny this same right to Hegel's Speculative
>Philosophy?

I never contradicted intellectual knowledge of hegel Mr. paul what i again again say isbut personal living experience of mystic is not same as this intellectual knowledge.

Let me again quote my last portion which you conveniently forgotten to illustrate the difference between hegel's speculative reason and the mystic's living experience which transform the person himself.

"This is better illustrated by the following example of the mystic philosopher Socrates whose fearlessness of the Athenian democratic regime and his drinking of the cup of hemlock from the jailer and the speculative philosopher Hegel and his waiting for hours with respect and awe to see Napoleon passing through the street and also his encounter with Frederich Wilhelm IV and his apologic ,fearfull and false attitude..

>I will leave you with Hegel's words again:

>"The joy of beholding itself in Absolute
>Being enters Self-consciousness and
>seizes the whole world; for it is Spirit."
>(Hegel, PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT, 1807,
>trans. Miller, 1977, para. 761)

Good Mr.Paul,but as Ialready shown in the begining now you know these are only mere words of Hegel not about himself but about the mystics and revealed religion as the next para shows(para762)

Lathief

2-Post of John Bardis-Yahoo Hegel Groups

I believe, Dr. Lathief, that Hegel understood renunciation as you define it. The following are a few quotes about this from the PHILOSOPHY OF
RIGHT:

"A duty or obligation appears as a limitation merely of undetermined subjectivity and abstract freedom, or of the impulse of the natural will which
fixes upon its undetermined good capriciously. But in point of fact the individual finds in duty liberation. He is freed from subjection to mere impulse." (section 149)

"Pedagogy is the art of making men ethical. It looks upon man as natural, and points out the way in which he is to be born again. His first nature
must be converted into a second spiritual nature, in such a manner that the spiritual becomes in him a habit." (section 151, addition)

"By the sentence that a man must be something we understand that he must belong to a definite class; for this something signifies a
substantive reality. A human being without a vocation is a mere private person, who has no place in any real universal. Still, the individual in his exclusiveness may regard himself as the universal, and may fancy that when he takes a trade or profession, he is sinking to a lower plane. That is
the false notion that a thing, when it attains the realization which properly belongs to it, limits itself and gives up its independence." (section 208, addition)

And many other quotes concerning the individual and particular conforming to the universal could be given.

Concerning the question of a 'guru', Hegel lived in a time and place when many great men could have influenced him, whether directly or indirectly.
It is amazing that Hegel apparently had very little contact with many of the particularly great men of his time. It is amazing how little formal
education Hegel had. I don't know, for instance, that he ever visited Italy - certainly still the center at that time of civilization. Certainly Goethe's
trip to Italy was transformative for him. Hegel knew Goethe, but I don't think he ever met Kant. But how Kant came to be, I have no idea.

John

MY REPLY

Dear Mr.John,

I never doubted Hegel's understanding of renunciation,but only whether he underwent or experienced renunciation like mystics.

Secondly all your quotes are the renunciation of the objective mind.But the renunciation as philosophic mind is higher.including and transcending this objective mind.so it doesn't mean without a vocation or abandoning national spirit.But keeping a vocation and national duty at the same time able to transcend this if necessary because the philosophic mind or mystic mind is thinking and acting form not only subjective or objective view but from the view of the Absolute mind.And this is Total renunciation.

regards

lathief