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the elucidation of the three moments of the logical. But what remains to be asked, if one speaks of the three moments of the logical in Hegel?
PARTICIPANT: One could perhaps say that the dialectical and the speculative moments appear as two sides of negativity.
HEIDEGGER: Let us not go into negation and negativity.
PARTICIPANT: We have forgotten to ask about the totality of the three moments.
HEIDEGGER: How do you wish to determine the course of the three moments? The abstract, dialectical, and speculative are not side by side. But what must we return to in order to find out how the three moments belong together? {199} As I subsequently reflected on the course of our conversation, I was alarmed about our carelessness.
PARTICIPANT: We must ask where the Logic has its place in the system.
HEIDEGGER: We do not need to go so far, but we must ask ...
PARTICIPANT: ... what the logical means in Hegel.
HEIDEGGER: We have spoken about the three moments of the logical, but we have not thereby reflected on the logical itself. We have failed to ask what Hegel means by the logical. One says, for example, "that is logical." Or one can hear it said that the great coalition is logical. What does "logical" mean here?
PARTICIPANT: In the "Introduction" to the Science of Logic, Hegel says that the content of logic "is the depiction of God, as He is in His eternal essence before the creation of nature and of a finite spirit."
HEIDEGGER: Let us remain at first with what the "logical" means in the customary sense, i.e., for the man on the street.
PARTICIPANT: It means the same as "conclusive in itself."
HEIDEGGER: Thus, "consistent." But is that what Hegel means when he speaks of the three phases of the logical? Certainly not. Thus, we have not made clear to ourselves what we are talking about. In paragraph 19 of the Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences, Hegel says, "Logic is the science of the pure idea, that is, the idea in the abstract element of thinking." We do not want to dwell too long on Hegel here. I only want to make clear the gulf that separates us from {200} Hegel, when we are dealing with Heraclitus. What does "science of the pure idea" mean with Hegel; what for him is the idea?
PARTICIPANT: The complete self-comprehension of thought.
HEIDEGGER: What does Hegel's concept of the idea presuppose? Think about Plato's ἰδέα [form]. What has happened between the Platonic idea and Hegel's idea? What has in the meantime happened when Hegel and modern times speak of the idea?
PARTICIPANT: In the meantime, Plato's ἰδέα took the road toward becoming a concept.
HEIDEGGER: You must be somewhat more cautious. With Descartes,