All language subtitles for [English] Hegel’s Dialectical Process [DownSub.com]

SPROUL: The way G.W.F. Hegel constructed
his philosophy of history was through this

process called “the dialectic.”
The dialectic works like this:

In all the different areas of human experience
that we have—such as art, philosophy, theology,

music, economics, physics, astronomy, whatever—we
find a process taking place that involves tensions

that are overcome on the plane of history. It goes
like this. Somebody will come up with a thesis,

like Parmenides: “Everything is being.” And
that thesis invariably evokes an antithesis—that

is, a theory that is in polar tension to
it, such as we saw with Heraclitus and

Parmenides. One said that everything is being;
the other one said no, everything is becoming.

Now, the progress of philosophical development
is stifled. There is a blockade here, because

you can’t get past this tension, until somebody
comes along and resolves the problem by creating

what is called a synthesis. We saw that,
for example, when Plato sought to reconcile

Parmenides and Heraclitus by creating his
synthetic philosophy of the two realms,

and so on. Then that synthesis becomes the new
thesis, and invariably that thesis provokes what?

Another antithesis, such as we saw with Aristotle
challenging Plato. Now, then what happens is that

this creates a roadblock for a certain period
of time, until somebody else comes along and

takes ideas from both of these sides, works them
out together, and creates another synthesis.

Now, of course what happens with that synthesis
is that that new paradigm, or that new system,

or that new philosophical viewpoint, becomes
the basis for a new thesis. What does that do?

It provokes what, Roger? What would you
guess? Another what? Antithesis. That’s right;

you got it. And, as you can see, I’m
running out of blackboard space here,

but this then is resolved in another synthesis,
and we can see this pattern go on and on and on.

Well, it is much more complicated than this simple
illustration that I’ve just given to you here

with respect to philosophy. But you also have
the relationship between religion, for example,

and art. And there’s a tension there, which
is then resolved in philosophy. Then you have

conflict between philosophy and science, which
is then resolved in political theory, and so on.

So, you have a whole grid of these dialectics
working themselves out. What Hegel is looking for

in the process of history is what he called
the “aufgehoben.” Now, that's just a fancy

German word for something’s being elevated to the
next level. You rise above the current dilemma

into the next stage of development, where you
transcend the current difficulty and resolve

it into a new thesis. That’s the experience—the
synthesis is the experience of the “aufgehoben.”