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Among the various forms of the abdication of philosophy discussed in the previous chapters, we are able to distinguish between two main categories, namely, those forms that, as the philosophy of Plato and Hegel, fall within the transcendentalist category and those forms that, as the forms of functionahstic and existential philosophy, fall within the reductionist category. Marxist dialectic may be said to constitute a hybrid form, being both transcendentalist and reductionist. Both categories have in common that, whether their respective advocates admit it or not, they are constitutive, because, as we have observed, all philosophical approaches are characterised by being put forward under a specific method and representing a definite theory. All philosophical projects, therefore, reflect a specific logos. Where this logos is seen as absolutely comprehensive yet comprehensible, in the sense that man's thinking (reason) blends with it in some way or other, as in the case of Hegel's transcendentalist philosophy, the abdication of philosophy takes place, as it were, in an upward direction. That is to say, in Hegel's system the principle of identity is established by the absolutisation of human reason, in the sense of grasping the dialectical movement of the Spirit towards absolute freedom and perfection in all parts of the cosmos.

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-015-0895-7_5

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