Cultural studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Cultural studies - Essay Example This is possible when the spirit is free from the influence of the universal will and instead it should be moved by the pure will or pure knowing. â€Å"Hegel believes that the idea of individual consciousness is closely connected with the Notion of Utility† (p.355). (G.W.F Hegel, 1977). It is this Notion of Utility which gives a new shape to the human consciousness-that of absolute freedom which Hegel considers as the ‘essence of all actuality’. Thus Spirit, in this absolute freedom, is aware of its own pure personality and of all spiritual reality which is a product of the general will of all individuals as such (p. 356). But there is a tendency for the consciousness to abolish all the ‘social groups or classes which are the spiritual spheres into which the whole is articulated’ (p. 357). Thus, it is necessary to bring about a balanced notion regarding the concept of absolute freedom and the way it creates difference between the individual and the universal consciousness. According to Hegel, the individual needs to respond to both the universal consciousness and his own personal consciousness . On the other hand he should also make sure that he doesn’t adhere himself to the dictates of the universal consciousness. The element of being is the key to nourish one’s self-consciousness. The self- consciousness should never be allowed to live in a world of illusion thinking that it is accomplishing a particular work while fulfilling the universal work itself. (p. 359). Hegel is of the opinion that the universal will represents only one actual will in a self whereas all other individual will are excluded from it. That is why he considers government as the ‘individuality of the universal will’ which represents only the ‘victorious faction’ (p. 360). Therefore, any attempt to bring together the universal will with that of the individual will is quite impossible and one should negate the very notion of â€Å"the individual as a being existing