The Beginning Before the Beginning: Hegel and the Activation of Philosophy‪.‬

INTRODUCTION The one thing that almost all readers of Hegel agree upon is that for Hegel the question of a properly philosophical beginning, or 'with what must science begin, is of central importance to the activation of his philosophy. The problem of the beginning in Hegel's philosophy is multifarious, there is the beginning of the logic, or the system as a whole, there are new beginnings in each developmental cycle of the system--logic, nature and spirit--and there is the beginning of the Phenomenology of Spirit. (1) While not as universally agreed upon, the need for the 'beginning' to be presuppositionless is now generally also accepted. However, what has received less attention is the beginning of philosophy as such; how or why the philosopher begins--the beginning before the beginning. (2)