> [!Cite]- Metadata > 2025-07-22 21:24 > Status: #concept > Tags: `Read Time: 4m 10s` ### One-Sentence Summary > Sublation is a dialectical process—central to Hegel’s philosophy—in which a concept, position, or state is both negated (cancelled) and preserved (retained) when it is transcended and integrated into a higher unity. --- ### Definition(s) and Key Terms - In Hegel’s dialectic, sublation (from the German Aufhebung) means at once to negate, to preserve, and to lift up or “transcend” a concept, making it part of a higher unity while both cancelling and retaining aspects of what came before. - Sublation is the logical and philosophical process by which contradiction or opposition is overcome: when two incompatible elements interact, their conflict is resolved by elevating them into a new whole that both overcomes and includes them. - Related terms / Not to be confused with - **Sublimation:** a psychological term (Freud) about transforming drives, not the dialectical logic of sublation. - **Negation:** simple denial or contradiction; sublation is more than mere negation because it preserves. - **Synthesis:** similar but less precise—dialectical “synthesis” is sublation only if it both preserves and supersedes prior moments. - **Aufhebung:** the original German term used by Hegel, with all its complexity—meaning abolish, preserve, and lift up at once. - **Negation of negation:** a phrase describing sublation as not just denying, but a second-level, reflexive overcoming. --- ### Core Components or Principles Major subcomponents/mechanisms - **Negation:** The older position or proposition is cancelled or overcome. - **Preservation:** What was valuable or essential in the old is retained within the new order. - **Elevation/Transcendence:** The conflict is lifted into a higher level that resolves the contradiction. - **Self-sublation:** Sometimes, a moment or state contains contradictory elements and sublates itself by moving beyond its limitation. - **Reflexivity**: Sublation is often self-referential—what is overcome is preserved within the overcoming itself. Diagrams or models (suggested) - **Dialectical triad:** | Thesis | Antithesis | Sublation (Aufhebung) | | --------------- | ------------ | ---------------------- | | A starting idea | Its negation | New unity of both (A’) | - **Visual:** Two intersecting circles (A and B) show a new circle (C) encompassing aspects of both, not just their overlap but an elevation. --- ### Origins and Historical Context - G.W.F. Hegel is the philosopher who fully developed and popularized the term and concept of sublation as Aufhebung in German. - Hegel was addressing the problem of how contradiction and opposition could drive progress in logic, nature, and history, rather than result in mere deadlock or sterility. - Originally rooted in Hegelian dialectics, sublation became a methodological core of classical German philosophy and later influenced Marxism, existentialism, and systems theory. - It has taken on broader meanings in continental philosophy (for example, how historical change is at once a break with and a continuation of the past). --- ### Interdisciplinary Connections - Field 1: Philosophy Central to dialectical logic and metaphysics; used to explain how ideas and realities develop through contradiction. - Field 2: History and Social Theory Used in historical materialism (Marxian theory) to examine how societies and social structures overcome contradictions and evolve by sublating prior forms. - Surprising parallels Systems theory: Whole-part relationships, where new systemic levels integrate but also transform components. Psychology: Though unrelated to Freud’s “sublimation,” some psychoanalytic and developmental models reflect similar processes of preservation-through-transcendence.____ --- ### Critiques and Debates - Opposing viewpoints Critics argue that sublation is overly abstract; some view its logic as mystical, circular, or imprecise. Analytic philosophers often object to its definitional ambiguity and the prescriptive nature of “negating yet preserving”. - Known limitations or flaws Sublation provides little guidance for identifying what should be preserved versus what should be eliminated; can be seen as explaining after the fact rather than predicting or guiding progress. The concept’s contradictory usage in language—cancel, keep, and elevate—renders it difficult to use precisely in non-Hegelian contexts. - Misuse or overuse Sometimes mistaken for simple replacement or erasure. Can be misapplied to any kind of change, even when no genuine dialectical preservation is present. --- ### Applications and Case Studies - Where is this idea used? Classical German philosophy: The development of concepts, categories, and reason itself. Marxist theory: The transformation of social, economic, and political realities (e.g., bourgeois society is “sublated” by socialist order). Critical theory and literary analysis: Interpreting the development of genres, ideas, or cultural forms. - Notable examples or case studies Becoming emerges in Hegel’s logic as the sublation of Being and Nothing—they are negated as pure extremes but preserved in a new, more concrete unity. Historical development: Hegel uses sublation to describe the progress of history—each era negates and retains aspects of its predecessor. - My personal or project-based application To be filled by user. Possible prompt: Consider how you have integrated conflicting ideas in your academic or creative work by both moving beyond and preserving aspects of them.] --- ### Insights & Reflections - What surprised me? The word sublation contains an intentional contradiction at its core: to both negate and preserve at the same time. Its complexity is not a flaw but a feature reflecting how real change combines loss and continuity. - How does this reshape my thinking? It complicates the idea that progress means simply leaving the past behind; instead, genuine advance may require consciously integrating—and not merely discarding—what came before. - What new questions arise from this? How can we distinguish genuine sublation from superficial compromise? In what fields (outside of philosophy) could more dialectical, “sublating” approaches yield deeper understanding or innovation? --- ### **Resources** - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “Hegel’s Dialectics”[](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel-dialectics/) - Wikipedia: “Aufheben” and related entries[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aufheben) - hegel.net: “Sublation (in German 'Aufhebung')”[](https://hegel.net/en/sublation.htm) - Additional context from philosophical blogs and educational videos [Sublation: Negation of Negation – The Empyrean Trail](https://empyreantrail.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/sublation-negation-of-negation/) [Hegel’s Dialectics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel-dialectics/) [Aufheben - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aufheben) [Sublation (in German 'Aufhebung') - hegel.net](https://hegel.net/en/sublation.htm) [Hegelianism: What Is Sublation?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0CRY9d-kxc&ab_channel=AntonioWolf) [How exactly does sublation differ to sublimation or elevation? : r/hegel](https://www.reddit.com/r/hegel/comments/1kl3sn8/how_exactly_does_sublation_differ_to_sublimation/) [Hegel’s Sublation and the Historical Process « Luminous Darkness](https://luminousdarkcloud.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/hegels-sublation-and-the-historical-process/) [What is sublation?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtrZOFKwVFo&ab_channel=AntonioWolf)