Commentary on the Philosophy of Nature, Chapter 22
What Hegel Fastens Magnetism To
The escalation presupposes that magnetism is the weaker form. What this depends on Hegel says more clearly in the lectures than in the printed text: “Magnetism is the principle of configuration; the magnetic line is in itself manifesting.”[1] And to mark it off from mere cohesion: “Magnetism requires no Sollicitation” — it needs no impulse from outside, whereas the toughness of a body shows itself only when force acts upon it.
This is what is at stake: a determinateness that expresses itself of its own accord, as against one that emerges only under resistance. How physics understands magnetism today is a different question; the distinction itself has remained useful. [KF]
Vorlesungen über die Philosophie der Natur, transcript by Bernard, lecture course 1819/20: GW 24.1. ↩︎