ABSTRACT
IT is said in the previous Part that categories cannot subsist if thought is lifted to the level of Self-consciousness. There is no reasoning or thinking at that level. That is, there is no thinking which is thinking by Self-consciousness. Therefore the conceptual thinking which Hegel advocates is no true thinking. Thinking belongs, if at all, to the finite level. Hence our method of thinking cannot overcome the defects of finitude. And the principle to which it tries to conform in order to be correct is the principle of non-contradiction. But as has already been said, if at any time we are asked whether the result obtained will not be contradicted, we have to confess ignorance. And our ignorance is due to our finitude. Only at the level of the Absolute can we be certain of non-contradiction, but this certainty is not due to reasoning.
