Abstract

For Hegel, "abstract" means: one-sided, isolated, poor in determinations. The abstract has abstracted from mediation, treating a moment as though it stood on its own. Examples: pure being (the most abstract category), formal identity (A=A), the isolated consideration of a single thing. "Abstract" functions as critique: something has been grasped too one-sidedly. Understanding [Verstand] works abstractly (it separates, it fixes). Reason [Vernunft] wants to become concrete (mediated, living). The movement of the Logic runs from abstract to concrete.