Possibility

Hegel distinguishes three stages of possibility: 1. **Formal possibility** --- mere freedom from contradiction. "Everything is possible that does not contradict itself." This is *empty* possibility: a golden mountain is formally possible (no contradiction), but this says nothing about realizability. Hegel's sharp critique: "There is therefore no emptier talk than that of such possibility" (Enc. §143 Addition). For what is formally possible is also formally impossible (one need only fix on some opposite). The less someone knows, the more he considers possible --- for he does not yet know the obstacles. 2. **Real possibility** --- all conditions are present. This concerns the concrete prerequisites: Does the seed have water, soil, warmth? Then the tree is really possible. Real possibility asks: What obstacles exist? What conditions must be fulfilled? 3. **Absolute possibility** --- coincides with actuality. When *all* conditions are fulfilled, it is already actual. Absolute possibility sublates itself: what is absolutely possible IS.