Condition
Hegel (Logic of Essence, moment of actuality)
The condition is the presupposed that must be fulfilled for something to become actual. But --- and this is Hegel's point --- conditions are not *externally* added, but belong to the ground itself.
Origin
*Conditio* (Lat. condition). Aristotle: potency needs external movement for actualization. Spinoza: everything follows from substance with necessity (no external conditions). Hegel mediates: conditions are moments of self-realizing necessity.
In Hegel
Enc. §146-148; SL Vol. 2, Actuality
Cross-references
Ground · Possibility · Actuality · Necessity · Logic of Essence
Beispiel
The seed (potency) needs conditions (water, earth, warmth) to become a tree (actuality). But these conditions are not arbitrary --- they belong to the "complete ground" of the tree's becoming.
Die entwicklung (kap. 7.4)
- **Real possibility** = all conditions present - **Absolute possibility** = coincides with actuality: when *all* conditions are present, it already IS actual
Die dialektische pointe
The condition at first seems external (the seed "needs" water from outside). But on closer inspection: the conditions *belong* to the matter --- a seed that needed no water would not be a seed. The externality of the condition sublates itself.