An accident gaining separate existence is the negative’s power.
Evidence
The circle that remains self-enclosed and, like substance, holds its moments together, is an immediate relationship, one therefore which has nothing astonishing about it. But that an accident as such (das Akzidentelle als solches), detached from what circumscribes it, what is bound and is actual only in its context with others, should attain an existence of its own and a separate freedom – this is the tremendous power of the negative. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 1101
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines plasticity-adjacent negativity: the negative’s puissance is precisely the power of the detached accident to attain its own freedom.
- XREF: This is the pivot for Malabou’s whole plasticity reading — the moment-severance she later maps onto neural plasticity. — connects to: Human formative power gives substance a face by making accidents essential — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 603; A tradition fuses an accident becoming fate with a fate actualizing in its accidents — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 1115; The For-itself becomes itself by negating the Other. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 775 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Philosophy reveals how accidents become essential and essence becomes accidental
#corroborates(0.85) - A tradition fuses an accident becoming fate with a fate actualizing in its accidents
#corroborates(0.80) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 1115 - The For-itself becomes itself by negating the Other.
#corroborates(0.75) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 775