Abstract

This chapter reconstructs Hegel's response to doubts about the reality of free will grounded in the requirements of explanation by exploring his theory of explanation in the _Logic_'s treatment of the category of ground. It shows that Hegel sees the basic form of explanation holistically in such a way that all explanation is partially self-explanation as a three-term relation between explanans, explanandum, and conditions. The way that Hegel develops the role of the conditions within self-explanation is shown to internalize an anarchic externality within the ‘self’ that is self-explanatory. This internalization partially destabilizes the explanandum as an orienting point of reference while simultaneously providing it a content that makes it a true locus of responsibility. Throughout it is shown that Hegel's conception of the grounding relation is essentially one of expression.