Presupposing (Voraussetzen)
Hegel (core methodological concept)
To presuppose is to posit something as already-there. What is presupposed appears as found (not made). But: what is presupposed is itself posited -- by the concept, which develops itself.
Origin
Hypothesis (Greek *hypo-thesis*, under-positing) as presupposition. Descartes: methodical doubt eliminates presuppositions. Kant: critique examines conditions of possibility (presuppositions). Hegel: the presupposition is sublated, not simply eliminated.
In Hegel
*Enz.* §1 (note); *WdL* Vol. 2, Essence
Cross-references
Setzen · Gesetztsein · Reflexion · Ground · External Reflection · Determining Reflection · Mediation
Wesenslogischer aspekt (kap. 5.5)
In the logic of essence, "presupposing" is the basic operation of *external reflection*. Thought relates to something that it treats as already given -- it "presupposes" it, as though it had been there before thought began. What is presupposed appears as *mediated* -- it comes from elsewhere.
Das paradox und seine auflösung
Whoever presupposes something thereby posits it -- but as something that is not posited. *Determining reflection* resolves this paradox: what is presupposed is itself something posited, but something *necessarily* posited. What I presuppose, I have (implicitly) posited myself -- but I had to posit it in just this way.
Hegels pointe
What we presuppose is our own product, which we have forgotten. The sublation of the presupposition consists in recognizing that what is presupposed is posited. Then: being-with-oneself in the other (freedom).
Beispiel
Being appears as immediately presupposed, but is in fact a result (end = beginning).
Terminologische abgrenzung
Modern usage: "to presuppose" = to assume that something holds. Hegel's usage: "to presuppose" = to treat something as existing prior to the positing, as already-there.
Im buch
Ch. 5.2, 5.5.3, 5.5.5