Habit is the process whereby contingent determinations become essential

Evidence

The process of habit ends by canonizing being’s improvisations on its own themes. The philosopher, the political man or sculptor, are determinations which could not have been anticipated just by the simple generic definition of man: they are destinies contained virtually in the genus ‘man’, but remain there as something unpredictable. By forming themselves, by undergoing repetition and practice, these determinations ultimately construct a state which is habitual and accordingly essential. Habit is the process whereby the contingent becomes essential. Man can ‘present the genus’to the degree that habit is the unforeseen element of the genus. Habit, then, appears as the future of the undifferentiated genus. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 601

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines habit’s role in ‘presenting the genus’ — habit converts the contingent into the essential.
• XREF: This is the core plasticity-via-Hegel concept the reader is tracing for their brain work — contingency becoming necessity through repetition maps onto neural habit formation. — connects to: Habit precedes and results from the practice it makes possible — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 488; Habit is the condensation of an organism’s environment into its constitution. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 507; Habit transforms contingent acts into essential determinations of being. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 601 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Habit transforms contingent acts into essential determinations of being. #corroborates (1.00) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 601
• Habit is the preservation of a first modification without repetition of the modification #qualifies (0.80) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 502
• Habit is an intentionally-produced alteration that defines how humans acquire form #expands (0.75)