Language is spirit’s perfect expression while the human figure is only its first appearance

Evidence

There are passages in Hegel’s Anthropology that would support such a conclusion, pre-empting the inquiry already underway: ‘Seen from the animal world, the human figure is the supreme phase in which spirit makes an appearance. But, for spirit, it is only its first appearance, while language is straightaway its perfect expression (sein vollkommener Ausdruck).’ — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 543

Categorization

• XREF: This anticipates her later book on plasticity and neuroscience where the brain’s temporality maps onto spirit’s successive appearances. — connects to: Human expression liberates signification from its original natural economy — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 546; After the Philosophy of Spirit, subjectivity sheds its human shape entirely; The body functions as a sign surpassed toward meaning (+1 more)
• QUESTION: How does ‘expression’ in Hegel relate to the body as a medium — does upright posture as habitual willing prefigure the brain’s wiring as second nature?

Broader Connections

• Human expression liberates signification from its original natural economy #expands (0.85) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 546
• The body functions as a sign surpassed toward meaning #expands (0.80)
• After the Philosophy of Spirit, subjectivity sheds its human shape entirely #expands (0.72)