SOC 2112 Lecture 8: Lect. 8 - GWF Hegel
Document Summary
Consciousness of object is the awareness of self as a subject, which is separate from the perceived object. As subjects we are agents of our own destiny and we can speak about our own experiences. Self-consciousness is thus the awareness of another"s awareness of oneself (recognition of each others subjectivity). One becomes aware of oneself by seeing oneself though the eyes of another (looking glass self). It is becoming aware of oneself as object but also a subject. Hegel was looking at the struggle from recognition in self-consciousness. There are two opposing moments in self-consciousness: the moment when the self and the other come together, which makes self-consciousness, the moment of difference arising when one is conscious of the otherness of other selves vis- possible. Otherness and the ideal/pure self-consciousness are mutually opposed (dialectical) moments in a life and death struggle for recognition.