Clear all
Work #249 · Mature (the most comprehensive single-text statement of the system)

Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
1817 (1st edition); 1827 (2nd edition); 1830 (3rd and definitive edition, in three volumes) · German
Systematic philosophical encyclopaedia in three volumes · German absolute idealism

Hegel's entire philosophical system in one organised text — Logic, Philosophy of Nature, Philosophy of Spirit

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences (Mature (the most comprehensive single-text statement of the system))
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Total
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Singular
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Cosmic-ordering
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences

The dialectical-systematic time of Spirit's unfolding across logic, nature, and spirit.

Space

Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences

The systematic space of the encyclopaedic organisation — each part requiring its predecessor.

Matter

Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences

Material reality treated in the Philosophy of Nature as a moment of Spirit's self-realisation.

Observer

Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences

The Absolute Idea as the singular self-thinking totality; the human philosopher as the agent through which this is grasped.

Energy

Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences

The dialectical energies of self-development across logical, natural, and spiritual moments.

Information

Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences

The complete systematic content of philosophy preserved in encyclopaedic organisation.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences

The Encyclopaedia's status — textbook outline or substantive philosophical achievement? — has been continuously debated. The "Additions" compiled from student notes are textually less reliable than Hegel's own paragraphs. The Philosophy of Nature has been the most criticised section (its dialectical analysis of physical phenomena is often regarded as philosophically forced); the Logic and the Philosophy of Spirit are more widely esteemed.