The Prose of the World. The Logic of Understanding in Hegel’s Thought from Frankfurt to Jena

In this essay, I aim to examine the dual function of judgment as it appears in some early Frankfurt fragments and in the Jena writings of 1801–1805. By examining Hegel’s theory of judgment, it becomes clear that the analytical capacity of the understanding (Verstand) is transformed into a negative power to break away from an epistemological model based on identification and division, ultimately leading to a comprehension of itself as restlessness and movement. Hegel’s investigation of the relationship between understanding and reason is potentially a source of rich insights for addressing the challenges of contemporary times. Hegel urges us to develop a broader and more complex form of rationality that does not operate in watertight compartments but is based on the interdependent relationship between understanding and reason, scientific-technical knowledge and philosophy.