NON-BEING AND SOME PHILOSOPHERS

Hegel’s philosophy, of course, both begins and ends with Being. While the infinite richness of Being in the Absolute is indeed the final outcome of the philosophical process, you might say that, for Hegel, any starting point is sufficient for reason to propel thought forward to that divine culmination. However, Being is found not only upon reaching the Whole, but also at the starting point which is furthest from that culmination, the logical beginning of Pure Being as such – a point of departure so barren of content as to be really equivalent to non-being: that is, to Nothing. While