The Master-Servant Dialectic of Hegel

W.E.B DuBois’ and Hegel’s concept of double consciousness implies that individuals, especially black people, look at their own identity from two perspectives: There is the perspective oneself has about one’s own identity and the conscious perspective of them, as black people, are being perceived by others. As a result, slaves failed to meet the set image and goal of white America simply because the image slaves had in their own eyes was predetermined and unaltera-ble. Jacobs’ explained this with the persistent view that the black male are inferior. Compliant to Douglass’ description on how

This excerpt rejects Black culture by quoting an abolitionist Southern hymn, in which prostitutes are whipped and slaves are robbed. Unable to physically free himself from the nature of slavery, Douglass liberates his mind in religious duality. A slave is one who consents to be a slave, who participates in the dynamic of the relationship.

The entire subject of philosophy, according to Hegel, consists of the study of the history of the world and the creation of truth. When man first became aware of objects, he viewed everything in the context of death or negation. When the self encounters other people, its first reaction is to view them as objects and risk its life to kill them. After that comes the master/slave relationship, where certain people rise to the top of society and exercise control over others. Ironically, the slave actually has a more stable means of self-validation. The slave identifies with his work, which is never-ending, while the master identifies with his control over the slaves, which could end at a moment's notice. Another ideal, which we derive from Hegel, is that of "stoicism." Stoicism, defined as the recognition of the self as sovereign and independent. The individual tries to lead a self-contained life of reason but is still susceptible to the psychological residue of the master/slave relationship as well as nature's eternal mastery. After this stage comes skepticism, which is an extreme form of stoicism where the self becomes completely rational and destroys nature by doubting it. The self is still limited by the master/slave

A slave has all the emotion to want freedom, but no common sense or logic to obtain it, nor the advantages in society to reach it. Mr.Douglass uses all three aspects such as Pathos, Logos, Ethos to not only depict the struggle and blindness of slaves, but present the lifestyle of slave and the missed opportunities in front of the so they can realize the difference between what is suppose represent them(The American Promise) then what they really are(the American Individual). Pathos is used by Douglass to express slaves gratitude, anger, and feelings of their turmoil by putting those around him in his book as examples seeking for their american individual to be realized. Secondly, logos is the logic he speaks when clarifying what slaves are missing out on not taking

A slave up to this point in history was considered to be unfortunate and not inferior. In the ancient world,

Throughout the narrative, slave masters often used their power to establish dominance. One example would be “Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, the soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of death with the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger.” (Page 49) Slave masters often practiced separating a baby from its mother to endure that no maternal feelings were developed towards their children. They also demonstrated this practice to show their power and dominance over the slave children as they do not have the opportunity to go through normal childhood development. This dehumanizing practice exercises the true power of the slave masters in their ability to break basic human rights.

Additionally, both Hegel and Nietzsche use the Master / Slave dichotomy to account for identity and difference in the relationship between the powerful subject and the weak object. Both thinkers see identity and morality emerging out of a relationship of conflict. Moreover, in both Hegel and Nietzsche’s narratives, there is a change in the structure of acknowledgment, where the antagonistic relationship allows one side to define itself by negating the other. Both thinkers find that negation is an integral part of identity formation. Hegel and Nietzsche both concur, in dialectical terms, ‘Being’ is represented by the ‘object’, or Master, and the ‘subject’, or Slave, is constantly in the process of ‘Becoming’. From these similarities, is that clear that both 19th century philosophers have made a massive impact on philosophical thought in todays day and age, despite their distinct

The discussion with the slave, as it has been pointed out, recalls the discussion between

There may be humane masters, as there certainly are inhuman ones - there may be slaves well-clothed, well-fed, and happy, as there surely are those half-clad, half-starved and miserable; nevertheless, the institution that tolerates such wrong and inhumanity as I have witnessed, is a cruel, unjust, and barbarous one. (127)

After investigation, the loss of identity becomes apparent after reading about the horrors of slavery. The slaves were servants to a master and had no way of learning the structure and foundation of what it

Hegel’s critique of Kant’s philosophy is quite prevalent throughout the unfolding of Hegel’s own dialectical philosophy. Several of Hegel’s critiques of Kant’s work can especially be seen in one of his earlier works, “The Phenomenology of Spirit.” This is particularly established once Hegel begins to undertake the developing of Spirit within his Phenomenology. Here, Hegel makes several attacks on Kantian philosophy principles, and at some of the foundations of Kant’s use of pure reason in philosophy. There are several passages within the section where Hegel gives criticism of Kant’s work; critiques that strike at the very heart of what Hegel himself is trying to elucidate through his own dialectic, while discounting one of the greatest German philosophers.

Fanon believes that the master-slave dialect by Hegel underestimates the power of the white master on the black slave. In the case of Hegel, there is a sense of reciprocity between the master and the slave which is not the case with the white master and the black slave. Instead of looking for recognition from the black slave, like the master seeks from the Hegelian slave, the white master only seeks work and labor. Unlike in the case of the Hegelian master and slave, the black slave and the white master do not recognize themselves as recognizing each other. Another difference, according to Fanon, between the Hegelian slave and the black colonial slave is that the Hegelian slave eventually realizes his worth and gains freedom through his work.

“It's a different thing. I may degrade and defile myself, but I am not anyone's slave. I come and go, and that's an end of it. I shake it off, and I am a different man. But you are a slave from the start. Yes, a slave! You give up everything, your whole freedom.” (Dostoevsky, 1864). A person’s identity is given meaning by either body or memory, however, identity also relies on jobs, positions, and titles. The two different views on identity, body or memory, are affected by the presence of a person’s position weather it is a job title or duty the person holds; and this provokes questions. How does a person’s position effect both body and memory when it comes to identity.

The way freedom develops itself is though the phenomenon of history. Freedom is essentially an internal idea, but it manifest itself externally thoughout history. It may seem that many of the actions throughout history are from mens needs, passions, and desires, but Hegel says that while some actions in history do come from these things, they are relatively small in comparison to the whole canvas of history. Hegel says that passions, private aims, and the satisfaction of selfish desires are what have really driven most men throughout history and there powers are that they respect none of the limitations which laws and morality would impose on them. These passions, private aims, and selfish desires are actually closer to our own human nature then the artificial and troublesome discipline that tend to move to order, self-restraint, law, and morality.

George Hegel introduced to the world to the theory of ideas, known as the Hegelian dialectic, and it is quite astonishing as it contemplates and assesses contradicting ideas and ultimately generates a new idea. Hegel believes that all human ideas (thesis) are often in heated confrontations with their similar counterparts (antithesis), in which both may be equally feasible for a society. Hegel believes that these issues must be resolved through the synthesis of a new idea.