Sapere assoluto e riconoscimento. Hegel e la conclusione intersoggettiva della Fenomenologia dello spirito

The essay analyzes the genesis of absolute knowing starting from the whole phenomenological development. At the end of that process, consciousness becomes aware of itself not only as individual but also as universal, that is, as a result of the encounter with other subjectivities. The unity of singularity and universality in which absolute knowing consists is therefore the unity of consciousness with its other, that is, its intersubjective and social constitution. This is clarified by Hegel in the concluding section of the sixth chapter, in which the reconciliation between the two subjectivities generates a new subjectivity, called by Hegel “absolute spirit”. This is the new social and intersubjective awareness of consciousness.