Appearance

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Not mere illusion (which deceives), but the shining-forth of essence — the way in which essence exists. "Appearance is the existence of essence" (SL). Decisively: appearance is not deception, but manifestation. "Essence must appear" — an essence that does not appear would be an empty abstraction. Appearance contains: the law (the abiding order in change), content and form, the essential relations (whole/parts, force/expression, inner/outer).

Origin: Kant: appearance (knowable) vs. thing in itself (unknowable). Hegel: appearance as the necessary expression of essence — no longer an opposition.

In Hegel: Enc. §131-141; SL Vol. 2, Appearance

Cross-references: Essence, Illusion, Actuality, Law, Inner/Outer

Commentary on the Logic, Chapter 6

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