Genuine reason unites a priori and a posteriori, identity and difference

Evidence

Idealism does make an infinite gain, for thereby the emptiness of percipere (Perzipierens), or of an a priori spontaneity is filled with content absolutely: the determinateness of form is nothing but the identity of opposites. As a result, the a priori intellect becomes, at least in principle, a posteriori as well; for a posteriority is nothing but the positing of the opposite. Thus the formal concept of reason is obtained: Reason has to be a priori and a posteriori, identical and non-identical, in absolute unity. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 1186

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the ‘formal concept of reason’ as the absolute unity of a priori and a posteriori, of identity and non-identity — a load-bearing definition in Hegel’s argument.
• XREF: Directly feeds Malabou’s broader plasticity project — reason here is something that can receive and give form, uniting opposites without effacing them. — connects to: Hegel’s reason is both a priori and a posteriori in absolute unity; Distinction suppresses similarities just as adequation suppresses differences — Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall, Identity and Interaction: A…, 80; Difference simultaneously constitutes and limits any unity or totality — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 145 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Hegel’s reason is both a priori and a posteriori in absolute unity #corroborates (0.95)