HEGEL’s

Master – Slave
(Lordship – Bondage)
Dialectic
Hegel’s definition of Self-Consciousness
• The basic premise about Self-Consciousness:
«Self-consciousness exists in and for itself when, and by the
fact that, it so exists for another; that is, it exists only in being
acknowledged» (p. 111)

• Self-consciousness recognizes itself as a mode of

consciousness whose defining feature lies outside of itself, in
its being recognized by another self-consciousness.
• Self-consciousness is only really conscious of itself once it
recognizes another self-consciousness and is recognized by it.
• Therefore, its identity is not bound to some primordial core of
self-suffciency, self-certainty and selfsameness, but rather to
a necessary interaction with another self-consciousness.
Self-Consciousness is a Double Movement

• Self-consciousness is defined as a movement – the

double, simultaneous movement whereby
consciousness steps out of itself, and returns to
itself continuously.

• Hegel tells us the story of the two opposed forms of

Consciousness. The dialectical movement of these
two forms will yield to Self-Consciousness in which
these opposed terms are overcome while being
preserved.
The dialectic will be played out among these aspects
of Consciousness:

• Being-for-the-other(s)  the dependent existence

• Being-for-itself  independent, autonomous

existence
 What is Self-Consciousness?
• Human being is Self-Consciousness. It is conscious of itself,
conscious of its human reality and dignity. Self-consciousness
is what essentially differentiates it from animals.
• There is a unique desire a self-conscious being has. It is not
simply the desire towards natural things; but a self-conscious
being desires the desire of the other.
• Self-consciousness is a desire directed towards another desire.
In other words, human beings desire to be desired  This is
the desire for recognition
• Human beings desire to be recognized.
• The desire that generates Self-consciousness is the desire for
recognition.
• I want the other desire to recognize my value. But as I do so,
the desire of the other desires my desire as well.
 Two Desires Confront One Another

• Both of the desires are ready to go all the way in

pursuit of satisfaction; that is, they are both ready to
risk their lives in order to be recognized by the
other, and to impose itself on the other as the
supreme value.

• That’s why, the meeting of these two desires can

only be a fight to death.
• However, in order for the human reality to come
into being as “recognized” reality, both adversaries
must remain alive after the fight. In other words,
one must give in to the other and refuse to risk his
life for the satisfaction of his desire for recognition.
• The one who gives in becomes “the Slave”
(metaphorically).

• Consciousness is doubled within its unity: the one

who recognizes (for-the-other) and the one who is
recognized (for-itself).
 Why is Recognition Important?
• Each of these beings are certain of themselves but not
certain of the other. For each, the other is not yet a
self-conscious being with autonomous value.
• That’s why, each of their being certain of themselves
does not possess truth. For this certainty to become
truth, each of them has to be recognized by a self-
conscious being.

• Example  The value that I attribute to myself can

be illusory. For my value to be objectively true,
another self-consciousness has to recognize my value.
 The Life and Death Struggle
• The human reality and value depend on being recognized by the
other. Therefore, one is always «outside of itself», being-for-the
other.
• However, it must overcome its dependence to the other. It must
cease to be an object for the other and become the subject itself.
• In order to gain independence, one has to be recognized by
another human being (another self-consciousness).
• How can one be sure of the self-consciousness of one’s adversary?
• One must see that the other also wants to be recognized and that
he, too, is ready to risk his life, deny his instinct and fight for
recognition.
• He must, therefore, “provoke” the other to fight. And having done
this, he has no option but to kill the other in order not to be killed
himself.
• But this challenge of proving oneself by death does away
with the truth that was supposed to come from the other.
• There will be no one to recognize his victory. Therefore,
this life and death struggle will do no good for the one
who’s trying to win self-consciousness. He must not kill
his adversary.
• He must, instead, overcome him “dialectically”
(overcoming it while preserving it). He must leave him
alive and treat him as a consciousness being, but only
destroy his autonomy. He must overcome the adversary
only insofar as the adversary is opposed to him and acts
against him. In other words, he must “enslave” him.
• The Slave has risked his life but he has not adopted
the principle of the Master – to conquer or to die.
He fears death and accepts the life granted to him
by the other. Hence, he depends on the other. He has
preferred slavery to death. So, by remaining alive,
he lives as a Slave.

• The Slave recognizes the Master in his dignity.

 The dialectic
• There is still an aspect of being-for-the-other within
the Master  He is the Master only by the fact of
having a Slave who recognizes him as Master.

• And, there is also an aspect of being-for-itself

within the Slave  He is related to the things by
way of negating them. For him, the things are
autonomous. He, by exerting power, transforms the
things through Work. He prepares the things for
consumption, he transforms the natural things into
products.
 Analysis of the dialectic from
the Master’s point of view

• The Master is recognized by someone whom he

does not recognize. And this is precisely what is
tragic in his story.
• The Slave, for him, once he becomes a Slave, is no
longer an autonomous consciousness; but is a thing.
He is, therefore, recognized by a thing.
• Plus, he is dependent on the Slave and his work. He
does not produce but simply consume the things the
Slave produces through his own labor.
 Analysis of the dialectic from
the Slave’s point of view

• The Slave has undergone the fear of death.

Everything fixed or stable has trembled in his
consciousness.

• Whereas the Master is fixed in his Mastery and

cannot go beyond himself (or change or progress or
transform), the Slave is ready for change. Fear has
taught him the transformation, fear has educated
him.
The Slave receives his Self-Consciousness
through his Work
• Through enforced work, the Slave becomes the master of
Nature. It frees him from the Master. He transforms the
world by his work.
• By transforming the world, he overcomes the given world,
and what is given in himself too. He goes beyond himself,
and also goes beyond the Master.
• Therefore, it is by work, and only by work, that man
realizes himself objectively as man.
• Production sustains permanence. Only in the real and
objective product the human being becomes truly
conscious of his subjective reality, his Self-Consciousness.
 The Master-Slave Dialectic results in the
Independence of the Slave
• Work creates a non-natural world; a cultural, historical,
human world, which liberates the human being from his
own innate animal nature.
• It is by service (work enforced by the Master) that the
Slave frees himself from the terror that enslaved him to
the Master.
• The one who works recognizes his own product in the
world that has actually been transformed by his work: He
recognizes himself in it, he sees in it his own human
reality.
• By transforming the world, the human being transforms
himself too.
• In conclusion, it is indeed the originally dependent,
serving, and slavish Consciousness that in the end
realizes and reveals the ideal of autonomous Self-
Consciousness and is thus its truth.