Phenomenology of Spirit

Hegel distinguishes between the happy and unhappy consciousnesses. An unhappy consciousness is divided. The individual’s desires conflict with society’s moral and ethical standards. The unhappy consciousness is in a state of constant tension, and this is manifested in the lord-bondsman dialectic as an exertion of, or submission to, power. A happy consciousness is represented by the conflict resolution between the internal and external.

Humans develop their identities by creating a mental reflection of themselves, equating their actions with their consciousness. Once more, Hegel pulls attention away from the role of the divine in human consciousness: “This middle term is the unity immediately knowing and relating both, and the consciousness of their unity" (139). Hegel asserts that a person must have self-knowledge to be a rational individual. Awareness of the self comes through the individual’s relationship with, and difference from, the social, political, and historical context within which the individual lives. Self-certainty and self-knowing are the keys to unlocking a happy consciousness and reconciling the internal with the external.

The identity, or pure essence, which emerges from this reconciliation of the exterior and interior is pure consciousness. The individual recognizes differences and conflict through reason while being unified with the self.