Human habit conceals its own habitual character, whereas animal habit does not
Evidence
Between animal habit and human habit, the real distinction lies in the way human habit has an innate tendency to conceal its identity as habit. Such a tendency springs from human habitus itself. In the case of the animal, influences from the outside world are immediately ‘intro-reflected’. With the human organism, on the other hand, such a reflection back onto the self is not an immediate action, body and soul not forming so instantaneously that ‘simple ideal unity’ which is required by self-feeling. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 551
However, the preceding analyses have shown that the ability to contract habits cannot be the only distinguishing feature of the anthropological. If second nature is always present in organic nature, what is human habit and what does it mean? … Between animal habit and human habit, the real distinction lies in the way human habit has an innate tendency to conceal its identity as habit. Such a tendency springs from human habitus itself. In the case of the animal, influences from the outside world are immediately ‘intro-reflected’. With the human organism, on the other hand, such a reflection back onto the self is not an immediate action, body and soul not forming so instantaneously that ‘simple ideal unity’ which is required by self-feeling. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 551
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines human habit’s distinctive trait: concealment of itself as habit.
- XREF: Habit concealing itself as habit directly parallels the later claim (ch. 13-ish register) about language’s unconscious housing contradictory meanings — human self-misrecognition recurs across Malabou’s system. — connects to: Man defines himself as human by contrast with animal irrationality; Plasticity and habit define man’s place between animal and divine limits — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 317; Habit itself precedes humanity and belongs already to animal existence (+2 more)
- DEEPTHINKING: ‘Habit whose essence is to hide that it is habit — producing man’s belief in an originary nature’ is a genuinely top-tier, reusable idea about second nature repressing its own secondness. Only borderline 5%-tier material, and it is the strongest idea in the chapter.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 551
Broader Connections
- Animal and human behavior is highly contingent on circumstance
#qualifies(0.75) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 439