Hegel’s Dialectical Process

What effect do ideas have on the way civilizations develop and history unfolds? In this brief clip, R.C. Sproul explores G.W.F. Hegel’s philosophy of “the dialectic,” which continues to influence how many people interpret the progress of history today.
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[@afrahnajmudin7941]

Whoever this prof is, he is a god send, i sat here breaking my head over something i was about to cry over and he explained it in seconds

[@jerryjones7293]

Professor Sproul's lecture was a great gift to me. It lifted my understanding of the dialectic.

[@martiangaming329]

I’ve spent hours watching & listening to RC Sproul and Will continue. It never gets old and I continue to learn each time.

[@totonow6955]

He is not teaching Hegel so do check into actual Hegel and question why this man is leading you astray.

[@STARRANISE-cv5qt]

This man stimulates my mind like very few can. He was extremely intelligent and respected God immensely. RIP BROTHER. Look forward to conversations with you in heaven.

[@newyorknight]

I love the way RC takes the time to explain things. He is missed greatly. Timeless teaching from the Bible teacher, who looked like a police detective.

[@lunalinda9906]

Once you understand this, the division and chaos around us makes so much more sense🙏🏼

[@robinmansions2884]

I didn't even know this gentleman was a religious teacher. I was just here for the great explanation of Hegel

[@Philopantheon82]

Thesis, antithesis and synthesis is not Hegelian dialectic, in fact Hegel in preface to phenomenology criticize the triadic method in the first place, plus it originally belongs to Fichte, Hegel never explicitly mentioned dialectic like the way Professor explained.

[@rohxn6988]

facts

[@chrishorner7679]

True

[@J-Ton]

How did Hegel frame the idea?

[@Ethan-ly4iq]

​@@J-Ton As someone who is also just starting to grapple with Hegel's system, I will try to explain it as best I can. Hegel--as the above commenter mentioned--did not use the thesis-antithesis-synthesis triad to describe his dialectical/speculative method. It can be understood as having three movements; that of the abstract (understanding), dialectic (negative reason), and speculative (positive reason). Now, although this is more accurate to what Hegel is getting at, you can still encounter the same issues with abstract-dialectic-speculative as you do with thesis-antithesis-synthesis if you don't see it in action. In the beginning of Hegel's Science of Logic, he starts with the concept of pure, indeterminate being. If we analyze pure being, we realize that it has no content, no determinations, so what we are left with is really _nothing_ . Now, the concept of nothing can be understood as the lack of determination, and is thus the same as pure _being_ . We also treat nothing as something which _exists_ when we say "there _is_ nothing." We have now ended up where we started--with pure being. If we continue doing this, being and nothing will just keep vanishing into each other ad infinitum. As Hegel puts it: "they are not the same, [...] they are absolutely distinct yet equally unseparated and inseparable, [...] each immediately vanishes in its opposite" (p.60). This _movement_ of immediate vanishing is _becoming_ . So we went from being, to nothing, and finally becoming. You can picture it as being and nothing as being two sides of the same coin which is becoming. So now, you can probably see how thesis-antithesis-synthesis is misleading. Hegel's dialectical/speculative method is not about making a compromise between two propositions external to each other, but rather the self-movement of concepts through the power of its negative component which leads to the overcoming of its one-sidedness.

[@fakeemail4005]

@@Ethan-ly4iq So, to use the words thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, Hegel's dialectic method isn't that thesis and and antithesis face off until a synthesis comes along that joins the two together somehow, such that all 3 theses are distinct from eachother. But rather, the thesis and antithesis wrestle until they become one new thing in unison? I'm having trouble understanding, could you or somebody who reads this comment give me an example of this in real life?

[@doctrinalwatchdogwatchmano6854]

Brother Sproul, you were always such an excellent source of Doctrine.

[@aaaa-xk8ld]

Honestly, this is the best video to explain hegel's dialectical process. I would have loved to be in the class with this kind of professor.

[@milala6891]

He just explained something difficult so clearly in less than 5 minutes. Thank you for the video!

[@BJSepuku]

It's also completely wrong. Not once in his entire body of work has Hegel used the thesis - antithesis - synthesis model. He was in fact strictly opposed to that sort of formalism.

[@SomeIsBest]

​@@BJSepuku I see you have offered an antithesis to the OP. I wonder what the synthesis will be.

[@NightwatchN8]

See it every day on the news 😎

[@AbbieOates]

Thank gosh Roger got the answer.

[@toributler8135]

This was really helpful. This concept was mentioned in a book I am currently reading and I remembered the name Hegel from some reading in college but I did not really have an understanding of the Hegelian dialectic. To be honest the online definitions were confusing.

[@SuperTotoro3]

Well explained. More succinct using accessible language, than the other explanations I've found.

[@stevenshoemake2291]

Great breakdown of complex ideas, thank you

[@chrishorner7679]

This isn't, though, how Hegelian Dialectic works. The thesis/antithesis/synthesis thing was never mentioned by Hegel.

[@jamesanastasius2756]

Problem/reaction/solution

[@threeblindchickens]

@@jamesanastasius2756 that is also not the Hegelian dialectic

[@J-Ton]

What is the Hegelian dialectic, if not this idea or the idea of "problem-reaction-solution"?

[@threeblindchickens]

@@J-Ton its aufheben which doesn't have a direct translation into English but it means something like sublation or overcoming itself. you should read Phenomenology of spirit if you want to know how his dialectic works

[@J-Ton]

@@threeblindchickens Do you know any good secondary sources which might be helpful? I've found Hegel and Adorno to be very hard to follow and would love a better retelling if possible.

[@yoshkebenstadapandora1181]

I miss this man. He was a giant in theology.

[@katsudonnie]

He explained it so much better then the my teacher did it in 2 hours, I finally understand it.

[@charliestubbs6151]

So many words, to describe what is self evident

[@SethMoodyinersphobia]

The problem with this isn't just that it's wrong. In Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel spends a lot of time warning the reader of the danger of exactly the experience that commenters on this video are describing: the feeling of understanding in the absence of having first struggled to understand. They are praising this person for making the complex seem simple. But he is doing that but moving around intuitive and simple notions. No struggle -> no learning. It's a trap. You're worse for having felt the false epiphany.

[@hellacooook]

Should get into politics

[@SeanFlaherty]

Instead of a series of triangles, I like the image of a cyclical spiral reaching upwards.

[@RlsIII-uz1kl]

Helix moving through history.

[@ronniesiyum6679]

Best explanation on this topicc.

[@rokask4596]

Roger was zoned out big time 😀

[@catchywatchy7086]

You got it Roger

[@pappuchak8605]

Just brilliant!!! So easily explained❤❤❤... Thats how human history evolved over centuries after centuries... Would have been great if he could explain the Hegelian spirit a bit.. I mean the journey of Hegelian spirit into its higher consciousness...

[@jessyjonas4988]

" .....but we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2: 16✝️ Believers by the Holy Spirit have the understanding of the Spirit. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus... Philippians 2:5

[@sp1ke0kill3r]

Great! More recitation! Dialectic for Hegel is not analyzing counter points in an argument. Nowhere does Hegel use the terms Thesis, antithesis synthesis. If one is going to teach Hegel, Its a good idea to actually read him.

[@J-Ton]

What words did Hegel actually use to describe this idea of learning?

[@NourArt02]

Bro why did you have to disturb Roger's sleep, huh?

[@angienorris4529]

😂

[@alfredorezende580]

O conceito de movimento circular está incluso nesse processo dialetico sendo responsavel pela continuidade da mudança da historia. O Centro do triangulo è necessariamente fixo é o responsavel pela possibilidade de evento ocorrer.

[@alfredorezende580]

A ciencia é a responsavel por esclarecer esse evento.

[@alfredorezende580]

A tensão surge pelo fato em si, do encontro de A ao perceber a presenca de B.

[@savedbymylovegodthelordjes8394]

praise the Lord and God bless you all glory be to the HOLY TRINITY forever and ever amen

[@bryanjacobs1423]

New Discourses has a 4 hour podcast on Hegel on their KZbin Channel. It's a great investment of your time, very eye-opening.

[@krispykremeSP]

I agree!

[@Jimothy-723]

big brain "everything is being." huge brain "everything is becoming" galaxy brain "everything is being, and becoming."

[@ttmag1667]

I will say this because the various mistranslations drive me up a tree: "aufgehoben" does not mean elevated. it 's best translated as "canceled out". In a different context it also means something like "to safekeep", though I realize that's not a word but it retains the original meaning of "keep safe for later use" . But that's not what Hegel meant.

[@gioveh6]

I really don’t get why everyone is praising this teacher on his way of teaching. Saying even one word wrong is so incredibly dangerous to knowledge and not only to his scholars but, since it’s online, to millions of users as well!! The triadic is not even hegelian, and the only thing that is hegelian is mispronounced to have a different meaning?? I came back to this video after doing a deep dive on Hegel to see if I had been mistaken- this is the true misinformation. Plus the way he laughed it off after saying the incorrect word like he just said supercalifragilisticaspiralidocious in German 🤯🤯 did he really feel this much superior, or is all american education like this?

[@gregschroer2314]

Clear as mud

[@shehuaminu9]

Well explained!!

[@madjack821]

Who else has learned this but from Fallout New Vegas?? It’s kind of ironic because the character talking about it is named Caesar 🤣 I prefer hearing Sproul teach it though.

[@timholloway8821]

Who thought a video game could teach us something as this? 🤣

[@madjack821]

@@timholloway8821 right? I’m kind of impressed

[@Aurora-bv1ys]

New Vegas is a game that needs to be played by everyone atleast once.

[@ronaldjames6067]

Really interesting ! Is the complete lesson available somewhere ?

[@ligonier]

Hello Ronald, thank you for your message. You can watch the entire series titled, The Consequences of Ideas here: www.ligonier.org/learn/series/consequences-of-ideas

[@ronaldjames6067]

@@ligonier Thank you very much ! I am going to listen right now, God bless, love from Den Haag in the Netherlands.

[@uwekonnigsstaddt524]

@@ligonier I’ve got that 8 dvd set with me, it is a must.

[@user-ks5cg5cd7m]

Is this a part of a series?

[@LightLove-m6t]

he just described a dysfunctional relationship

[@valentinakaramazova1007]

Whenever you see an exposition on Hegel that uses Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis, run as far as you can, because you're dealing with someone who has never read any Hegel.

[@magicja]

If the process is never-ending, then what if anything is truth?

[@YenkammaNe]

Rome and Paris(CNN) Pope Francis on Wednesday called a report detailing decades of abuse in the French Catholic Church "a moment of shame," and called upon leaders of the Church to ensure "similar tragedies" never happen again. Francis was speaking a day after a landmark report found that members of the Catholic clergy in France sexually abused an estimated 216,000 minors over the past seven decades and that the Church prioritized the protection of the institution over survivors who were urged to stay silent.

[@Curi0u50ne]

I thought Roger wasn’t paying attention and would have said can you ask me that question again😂

[@PETERJOHN101]

The view that the dialectic process is beneficially expansive (socially or scientifically evolutionary) is also a thesis. Therefore, the antithetical of this approach is that it is nothing more than a form of intellectualized schizophrenia. Synthesize that.

[@drek273]

agreed

[@stephenhutchins7385]

sure. intellectualized schizophrenia is a necessary part of the process in evolution and expansion. we will inevitably get things wrong and synthesize things in ways that are unhelpful along the way, but this will provide insight into future syntheses.

[@tumwesigabarcly266]

I thought Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis are terminologies in Kantian philosophy not Hegel's. I believe Hegel used the model Abstract-Negative-Concrete. James Donaldson in The Origin of Hegel's Dialectics (Laval théologique et philosophique) puts it that Hegel never used the thesis-antithesis-synthesis model to explain his work and greatly relied on the abstract-negative-concrete model. How right is Danaldson then?

[@shopcrate5687]

So it's just elevation of thought solving. Nothing stays the same

[@johngregory582]

that Roger guy seems smart.

[@samuraikyokkan]

I submit that its not a rise, its analysis paralysis.

[@denniskozevnikoff1209]

what year is this?

[@JCAN1]

Teaching auld yins Hegel.

[@janismuller9592]

POV: How to explain Hegel if you have no idea and never actually read Hegel

[@therealBocaStudios]

I love the hierarchy this brilliant professor explains. So many educated idiots don’t understand (or cannot have their viewpoints challenged). This all points to the final elucidation, which is why God created government in the first place.

[@leninistefrancophonefache]

Where aren't the contradictions and negation?

[@Anabsurdsuggestion]

This is not Hegel’s dialectic. This is from Fichte.

[@FedExMan822]

New wine for new wine skins.

[@Grievance_Studies_Affair_2018]

Poor Roger didn't even know where he is 😂

[@craigsilver2146]

The Synthesis is the ultimate control of man by Lucifer the light.

[@jimba6486]

Here is a money maker fellows. Who will be the synthesis between Trump and Biden’s politics? That middle ground is the basis for a new era

[@thefaith2332]

They point of trump and biden is to divide so the isnt solutions or at least not real solutions

[@joeybwalsh]

Roger was definitely day dreaming. Thankful for wives.

[@TheJumpingjim]

This might work with theology or philosophy but it surely doesn't work with the scientific principle of testing ideas in the pursuit of curiosity. Pity the philosophers and religious guys don't give the scientific method a try.

[@GrayArno]

Lee Sandra Robinson Scott Johnson Thomas

[@fuowl666]

This is not how Hegelian dialectics works. It moves by double negation, which is an internal movement developing internal contradictions, not external like the thesis-antithesis supposition.

[@IPlayWithFire135]

It’s arbitrary to say that double negation is an internal movement and thesis-antithesis is external. The antithesis need not be external.

[@fuowl666]

@@IPlayWithFire135 No, it is not arbitrary but crucial to understand that the movement is internal. A "thesis" is literally a "setting" that someone does in regard to the matter in question, therefore external to it. Hegelian Dialectics is not rhetoric.

[@badlaamaurukehu]

101

[@reddoor2492]

We've only gotten more and more ignorant in my opinion.

[@jorden9821]

Not more ignorant than Hegel himself 😂 he was just a nut who knew big words.

[@SyphoDiaz66]

@@jorden9821 Hegel? I wouldn’t say that, he definitely had clear intentions, with clear rationale. But from our perspective, it is tough to parse his purposes because it’s a lengthy work that we need to really apply ourselves to.

[@BioChemistryWizard]

This is a completely wrong understanding of Hegel btw. Embarrassing the like to dislike ratio this video has.

[@DoubleBob]

Why do Americans in the last 50 years pronounce it "an teasesis" when it's clearly "anti thesis"?

[@clintmyrick4128]

Aufgehoben!

[@uwekonnigsstaddt524]

Google Translate is your friend: “Origin Mid 19th century; earliest use found in New Brunswick Review. From German aufgehoben, specific use (in Hegelian philosophy) of the past participle of aufheben to lift up, to keep, preserve, to annul, rescind, nullify, to neutralize, balance out from auf- + heben.”

[@alanjaw546]

People who are looking for answers from knowledge of the dialect are going to leave frustrated. There are no answers in this process, only "elevated" questions. It's kind of like trying to come to an agreement with a contrarian.

[@jeanymacdonald6964]

Duidelijker kan niet 👍🏾

[@nonperson8293]

this has nothing to do with hegel

[@Grievance_Studies_Affair_2018]

Are you sure about that?

[@mattd8725]

This is an explanation of something, but not an explanation of Hegel at all.

[@mikedaniels3009]

Awesome upload. Tell y'all what. Can't wait till Jesus's second coming. THEN will be having ONE thesis only FOREVER. The Undisputed God's way only and aufgehoben of all ungodly, humanistic antithesis BS.

[@Jimothy-723]

God created his own anti-thesis... unless you beleive there are other creators.

[@andredias1717]

Just go to the right there in Aristotles and stop the dialect madness...

[@z0uLess]

This philosophy is outdated now that our attentional resources bottlenecks what is being reacted to

[@Koropokel]

this is not hegels dialectics...

[@sawysauce1256]

This dude must be a frumentari or something

[@mikaeljokic8867]

Please pray that God saves me and fills me with His Holy Spirit, thanks

[@uwekonnigsstaddt524]

Saves you?

[@mikaeljokic8867]

@@uwekonnigsstaddt524 I have been falsely converted for 5 years and I'm not in a good position

[@chrisminer4857]

@Mikael Jokic run to Christ now and be saved! Plead with the King of kings to show mercy upon you and plead the promises He gives that He will no turn any away who come to Him. Keep on seeking Him until He reveals Himself to you. Repent of your sins and believe the gospel my friend! “Seek the Lord while He may still be found”

[@mikaeljokic8867]

My heart is pretty hard and it's scary

[@StallionFernando]

@@mikaeljokic8867 keep seeking and ask him to soften you heart. Sadly without true repentance one cannot be saved. Fast, pray and read the bible, keep seeking and he will answer.

[@Dri_ver_]

Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis, is not Hegel!

[@Impaled_Onion-thatsmine]

While the Something others a priori something goes something other. Blah blah. Ontological of the ready-at-hand.

[@frozono6871]

Ñ

[@andrewscott3184]

Dead Horse

[@jorden9821]

Hegel was evil

[@berglen100]

Realize you were with God before creation and experience every state, more lives than you are awake about going threw them, some short some long and God in you doing it all good and evil.

[@douglasmcnay644]

Heresy.

[@spencergsmith]

What?

[@spiroclimb2523]

@@spencergsmith Berglen100 believes "we" are creators and are not subject to an external God.

[@uwekonnigsstaddt524]

Thumbs down

[@clos1203]

Spiro climb nice.

[@GeorgWilde]

So any nonsense that someone can come up with as anti-thesis has to be taken in and incorporated into a new thesis (synthesis)? That sounds ridiculous.