Thing

The thing is the individual as bearer of properties. Ordinary thought: "The thing has properties" (substrate model). Hegel's critique: if one takes away all properties, nothing remains. The thing is thus nothing other than its properties --- but then there is no longer a thing, only the jumble of properties (matter). The dissolution of the thing: (1) thing = substrate + properties (unsatisfactory), (Ch. 2) thing = totality of properties (then no longer a thing), (3) the truth lies in the relation: force/expression, then inner/outer. The thing becomes transparent as appearance of the essence.