Commentary on Subjective Spirit, Chapter 40
Stekeler-Weithofer: The Demystification
Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer’s commentary in Realphilosophie (2023) has been drawn on throughout this volume — his reading shapes the presentation of the first part. So here only what defines his position.
His procedure is the same as with the philosophy of nature: translating ontologically sounding sentences into statements about forms of enactment. The sentence that puts it most concisely stands at § 387: “Spirit, taken literally, naturally does nothing at all.” What is meant is that we develop the forms of spirit.
What this gains him: Subjective spirit becomes legible without having to posit a world-soul or a supra-individual subject. And the warnings he issues — that the “not yet” in § 405 is to be read conceptually, not as a stage of development — spare us the most common misreadings.
What remains to be examined: the same question as with nature. Whoever reads ontological claims throughout as statements about forms of enactment makes Hegel immune to refutation. In the case of spirit, however, the objection carries less weight — here we are indeed dealing with something that is being enacted.