The Rational Kernel of Hegel’s Dialectic

ABSTRACT What is the rational kernel of Hegel’s dialectic that Marx famously speaks of? How can it be extracted from the mystical shell in which it is embedded in Hegel’s philosophy? Hegel sets out the general principles of his dialectic in the opening sections of his Logic. Starting from pure abstract “Being,” he claims to derive the concepts of “Becoming” and “Determinate Being” by a purely logical process. These arguments are fallacious. However, there is a rational kernel in them. Following Marx, I show how this can be extracted by inverting Hegel’s argument. To understand things concretely, we must see them as in relation to other things within a larger totality and as changing. I show how these fundamental tenets of dialectic are implied in Hegel’s claims, and I defend them against opposing empiricist ideas.