Idea of Life

The first and most immediate form of the idea (Ch. 19.1); the unity of concept and objectivity. It designates the logical structure of self-organization. The categorial leap from objectivity (which is "for another") to the idea of life is self-relation: the system is being-with-itself (in its organization), being-for-itself (in the felt lack/drive), and being-out-of-itself (in self-sublation). This self-relation manifests itself in three fundamental processes (S³ structure), each grasped as a complete system of inference (Ch. 19): 1. Self-differentiation (inner organization) 2. Self-preservation (assimilation of the other) 3. Self-sublation (development beyond the individual, e.g., genus) The idea of life is universal ("living concept," Ch. 19.3) and applies not only to biological organisms, but also to theories, institutions, etc. (Ch. 19.6). Its limit is its unconsciousness (it enacts the structure without recognizing it), which necessitates the transition to cognition (Ch. 21) (Ch. 19.8).