Absolute Knowledge requires active interpretation rather than passive contemplation

Evidence

Judging from the conclusions we have reached so far, the ‘backward look’ which philosophy ‘directs’ onto ‘its own knowledge’ could not be a look of passive contemplation, but rather an act of reading. In lieu of an author, the System necessarily has interpreters. Absolute Knowledge engages thought in the movement of speculative hermeneutics, in modalities unknown and unforeseen. According to Hegel, there is no such thing as an immediate grasping of the absolute, neither, it follows, will there be any such thing as an immediate transparency of meaning. For Absolute Knowledge to come on the scene, it is assumed that the discursive conditions both for its announcement and for its reception must have been produced. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 1130

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that philosophy’s backward look on its own knowledge is reading/speculative hermeneutics, not contemplation.
• XREF: Connects to Malabou’s core claim that plasticity means receiving and bestowing form — the mutual gift of form between System and interpreter. — connects to: Absolute Knowledge transforms via a retrospective move that turns predicate into speculative proposition — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 929; Absolute Knowledge unites the two directions in which substance and subject transform each other — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 923; Absolute Knowledge gains form only through a particular philosophical subjectivity — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 1131 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Knowledge requires mental reflection on existence rather than passive sensory impressions #corroborates (0.90) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 693
• Comprehension requires conscious confrontation with reality rather than interpretive comfort #corroborates (0.80)
• Understanding requires seeing with the mind’s eye, not just the physical eyes #corroborates (0.78) — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 676