{"id":179,"date":"2014-10-01T23:00:47","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/thinking-about-unhappy-consciousness-and-gods-dogs"},"modified":"2019-08-25T12:13:51","modified_gmt":"2019-08-25T12:13:51","slug":"thinking-about-unhappy-consciousness-and-gods-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2014\/10\/01\/thinking-about-unhappy-consciousness-and-gods-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking About Unhappy Consciousness (and God’s Dogs)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soon after reading Hegel on “the unhappy consciousness”<\/a> I participated in a conversation that gave me a new perspective on the issue and gave it a meaning I could relate to.<\/p>\n

In (a nutshell, in)\u00a0The Phenomenology of Spirit<\/em>, the ascending development of consciousness is described. Hegel arrives at a stage of consciousness, that considers all its experiences to be manifestations of its own thoughts, a type of skepticism<\/a>. The skeptic shape of consciousness develops into (what Hegel names) the unhappy consciousness, which comes to divest itself of what it had first considered to be its\u00a0fixed\u00a0and essential core. And this separated aspect is related to as a divinity; the focus of religion.<\/p>\n

Walking the dog<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Here is a story: Walking. Not alone; with an other. The Not-me\u00a0is holding a leash; walking the dog.<\/p>\n

[Not-me<\/strong>] I wish I was a dog.<\/p>\n

[Me<\/strong>] Yeah. The life of a dog with a good owner is perfect. Everything it does is in tune with its being. Its entire biology is just expressed.<\/p>\n

[Not-me<\/strong>] What I mean is a domesticated dog.<\/p>\n

[Me<\/strong>] Yeah, me too. It was bred and evolved to be what it is today.<\/p>\n

[Not-me<\/strong>] So it’s funny, what we want to be is – not just any dog, but – a\u00a0domesticated\u00a0<\/em>dog!<\/p>\n

[Me<\/strong>] It’s amazing how just\u00a0saying their name makes them happy. It’s as if your name was “you’re amazing”. All we have to do is tell them “good dog” and their life is good.<\/p>\n

[Not-me<\/strong>] And even when we say “bad dog”, it’s because they’re not being what they want to be [i.e. in harmony with their owner]\n

[Me<\/strong>] So what we want is an owner?! Pat ourselves on our back, “good boy”, or slap ourselves on our wrist, “bad boy”. That’s like religion!<\/p>\n

[Not-me<\/strong>] So religion is us wanting to be domesticated.<\/p>\n

[Me<\/strong>] Yeah. Religion is us externalizing our need to fulfil a purpose. We make ourselves god’s dogs.<\/p>\n

[Not-me<\/strong>] It’s the same with science*. It’s their\u00a0thing<\/em>, up-out there, which tells them what’s right, and tells them when they’re right or good, or wrong or bad.<\/p>\n

*Nb. in an existential and phenomenological sense; not in an epistemological sense.<\/small><\/p>\n

[Me<\/strong>] Hey, that makes me think of some stuff I’ve been reading…<\/p>\n

Re-comprehending the unhappy consciousness<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I now have a paradigm for fitting the unhappy consciousness. I start with its dilemma: Although everything is made of thoughts, one set of those thoughts is continuously changing, whilst the other, which must be its core and justification, is unchanging. This core is the\u00a0truth<\/em>, and without it I can have no standard for reality (or for self-certainty, or for the good). There are different ways I could relate my life (which is ever-changing) to this (unchanging) truth, but they all have in common an aspect of a perennial yearning or striving.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0start with changing thoughts, and their unchanging basis, and in order that I be living correctly, strive to make my changing life correct per their unchanging essence. This forces a divide between the changing and the unchanging, so that the unchanging\u00a0becomes this\u00a0it<\/em> out\u00a0there<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Or again: I start with a chaotic life that seems bereft of standards of reality, or confirmation that I am doing the right thing. If only there was something or someone that could tell me when I was fulfilling my role in life; tell me when I was being true to my nature.<\/p>\n

What I want is a god (maybe a personal god<\/i> even) that contains and knows what it is that I’m meant to be doing and why I’m here. Only then could I live as this particular individual, yet have cosmic value.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I first read Hegel on “the unhappy consciousness”, I struggled to make sense of it; a strange conversation gave it new meaning. The epiphany came about as we started talking about why dogs are so happy; why a dog’s life can be said to be perfect, and enviable too! And not just any dogs – domesticated dogs. What we seem to want is an external standard and confirmation of our purpose… religion?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[159,90,302,18,39,20,272,114],"tags":[19,37,38],"metadata":[],"class_list":["post-179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-blog-posts","category-classicalphilosophers","category-hegel","category-meanwhileiii","category-philosophy","category-short-story","category-story","tag-phenomenology-of-spirit","tag-religion","tag-thinking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3631,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2014\/10\/22\/hegel-index\/","url_meta":{"origin":179,"position":0},"title":"Hegel Index","author":"Pala","date":"October 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is an index for all my posts on Hegel. The order of publication is indicated by the numbering and otherwise this order basically follows the Phenomenology of Spirit. Contextualizing Hegel's Philosophy\u00a0[4] Reading Hegel on \"Sense Certainty\"\u00a0[1] Taylor Reading Hegel on \"Sense Certainty\"\u00a0[5] Reading Hegel on \"Desire\"\u00a0[2] Reading Hegel on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39990,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2014\/09\/30\/reading-hegel-part-5-on-the-unhappy-consciousness-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":179,"position":1},"title":"Reading Hegel [part 5] on “The Unhappy Consciousness”","author":"Pala","date":"September 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading Hegel about a form of consciousness he calls \"unhappy\", because not only does it define itself as a dichotomy, but it divides and separates the aspect of itself that it feels to be unchangeable and essential. This leaves a self that sees itself as a changing transience, and that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39953,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2014\/11\/15\/hegel-on-spirit-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":179,"position":2},"title":"Hegel on “Spirit”","author":"Pala","date":"November 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Editorial notes: This post was found in 'Draft' mode in the original blog and may be incomplete. It is published here in its original state. It was last updated on 15\/11\/2014 I have been reading Charles Taylor's book \"Hegel\" and his discussion on\u00a0the Phenomenology of Spirit on \"Spirit\". What follows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2014\/10\/12\/reading-hegel-part-6-introducing-reason\/","url_meta":{"origin":179,"position":3},"title":"Reading Hegel [part 6] Introducing “Reason”","author":"Pala","date":"October 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, consciousness evolves into \"Reason\" - a mode of thought that considers everything that is, including itself, to be determined by rationality. This concerns the introductory material of C.AA.V \"The certainty and truth of reason\",\u00a0\u00a7231-243. 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