Repulsion

Hegel (Logic of Being, moment of being-for-itself)

Repulsion is repelling --- the absolute negation within being-for-itself. The One sets other Ones apart from itself. Result: many Ones, qualitatively identical. Repulsion produces multiplicity. It is the negation of attraction, but passes over into it: the Many are related to one another. Repulsion without attraction would be absolute dispersal. Example: physical repulsion (electric charge), but also logical: independence posits other independent beings.

Origin

Latin *repulsio*. Epicurus/Lucretius: the *clinamen* (swerve) of the atoms enables collision. Kant: repulsive force prevents matter from interpenetrating. Hegel: repulsion as a logical category of self-differentiation.

In Hegel

Enz. §98; *Science of Logic*, Vol. 1, Quality

Cross-references

Attraction · Being-for-itself · Negation · Doctrine of Being