Life-Death Struggle In Hegel's Dialectic

Life-Death Struggle in Hegel’s Dialectic
Hegel’s dialectic of the life and death struggle elaborates on a social phenomenon commonly observed in communal life and throughout history. The life and death struggle is a fight for recognition experienced by individuals in a state of desire. In this state, self-consciousness becomes more aware of the external world and views the other as an object - an external reality. The complication here is that recognition, by nature, is reciprocal. Therefore, not all external realities provide the same fulfillment. Desire aimed at Being, or a notion, is not fulfilling because it requires you to fill yourself of this given being and show dependence on it. Thus, it is through the desire for Consciousness that you can free yourself from this dependence and realize true freedom. To achieve self-certainty and recognition, desire requires another desire, which can only come from another self-conscious being. Human beings participate in this process at the same time, where self-consciousness simultaneously attempts to retrieve itself from the other and expel the other conscious out. I find that this relation, on a greater scale, summarizes human society. Masses of self-conscious beings with …show more content…
The bondsman can take on what Hegel calls human labor as opposed to animal labor, which appeals only to gratification of instinct. The nature of human labor is a conscious act that includes awareness of the end before starting. For the bondsman, labor becomes a self-projection towards a realized end. He finds space to assert himself, plan ahead, and conquer obstacles that arise in his way. He begins to realize his ideas, thoughts, and purposes in the world. This sense of accomplishment helps the bondsman see things as his own doing – his creations. And only then can the bondsman start to become conscious of his