Abstract

The question which motivates this paper concerns the source of the concept of identity fundamental to Hegel’s system. This concept is expressed as follows: the identity of identity and nonidentity. This articulation of the principle of speculation, or speculative reason, is found in Hegel’s first publication, Differenz des Fichteschen und Schellingschen Systems der Philosophie. In this work Hegel seems to side with Schelling against the concept of identity formulated by Fichte in his Grundlage der gesamten Wissenschaftslehre. Here Hegel’s support for Schelling’s concept of Indifferenz might lead us to assume that this is the source of Hegel’s concept of identity. However, to proceed on this assumption would be not only to overlook the continuity in Hegel’s own development as a thinker but also to lose sight of the kinds of concerns which, for Hegel, give rise to the need for speculative reason.