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Chapter 5 - The Constitutive Concept

The Logical Significance of Teleology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2026

W. Clark Wolf
Affiliation:
St John's College, Annapolis
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Summary

Chapter 5 argues that Hegel’s interest in the Concept Logic is to determine when a concept and its object are in a “true” or fully unified relation. This requires developing both the least adequate logical relation of concept to object, which he calls judgment, and the most adequate such form, which is the syllogistic form of teleology. For Hegel, what best corresponds to its concept is what is conceptually constituted. And Hegel’s model for conceptual constitution is a teleological process governed by some universal. It is argued that the Teleology chapter of the Logic does not reject the artifactual model for teleology but in fact embraces it, for the teleology of artifacts requires that an intention come “first” in the construction of its object. Artifactual teleology shows in a concrete way how the moments of conceptual form can be unified in the objective domain.

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  • The Constitutive Concept
  • W. Clark Wolf, St John's College, Annapolis
  • Book: Hegel's Inversion of Philosophy
  • Online publication: 30 January 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009621427.005
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  • The Constitutive Concept
  • W. Clark Wolf, St John's College, Annapolis
  • Book: Hegel's Inversion of Philosophy
  • Online publication: 30 January 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009621427.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Constitutive Concept
  • W. Clark Wolf, St John's College, Annapolis
  • Book: Hegel's Inversion of Philosophy
  • Online publication: 30 January 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009621427.005
Available formats
×