Hegel’s theological error reveals his drive to reduce the Father’s originary superabundance
Evidence
The two confessions of East and West disagree about the Holy Spirit, whether it proceeds from the Father alone, or from the Father and the Son, but not, as Hegel puts it, from either the Son alone or from the Father and the Son. It is an extremely uncommon error for this philosopher. Either it stems from ignorance (Hegel, according to a number of commentators, was only mediocre as a theological scholar), or it is a ‘revealing’ lapsus. It is the second hypothesis which the theologians consider the more plausible. This ‘mistake’ must clearly show that Hegel attempts absolutely to reduce the originary superabundance of God the Father. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 712
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in plasticity — Hegel reducing the Father’s superabundance parallels how plasticity subordinates origin to self-determination, relevant to the brain/schema-of-formation work. — connects to: Hegel makes negativity intrinsic to God’s self-production, implying an originary lack; Hegel subordinates God to the necessity of the dialectic — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 681; God’s self-emptying is a founding and not merely a diminishment for Hegel — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 1258 (+3 more)
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: does this lapsus on the filioque recur elsewhere in Hegel’s corpus, and what do commentators say about his actual trinitarian fluency?
Broader Connections
- Hegel subordinates God to the necessity of the dialectic
#expands(0.75) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 681 - God’s self-emptying is a founding and not merely a diminishment for Hegel
#complicates(0.70) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 1258