The self-determination of thought within being
The concept spirit is not as fundamental as the concepts being and thought, for it is dependent on them: spirit is the self-determination of thought within being.
It is impossible to grasp the essence of spirit without metalogically grasping the two elements of knowledge (thought and being). The essence of spirit, its inner tension, its dynamic character, is derived from the infinite opposition between thought and being. Logism's view of spirit usually neglects the element of being; psychologism's view neglects the element of thought; both neglect the tension between the two elements. But spirit is neither a mode of thought; nor a mode of being. In spite of its dependence upon both of these elements it is an irreducible mode. Spirit is the mode of existing thought.
Every existent is formed by thought, and the more thought being has absorbed, the more real the existent is. The being with the most reality is the individual spirit-bearing gestalt, that being in which thought is realized as thought, as valid form. In all other being, thought is realized as a form of being, as conditioned, limited, immediate form. In the spirit-bearing gestalt, however, thought escapes from it conditionedness and immediacy; it confronts all forms of being with the unconditioned nature of its demand; it confronts being as validity.
The Productive Character of the Human Sciences
Like every other spiritual act, science is creative. Thus every act of knowledge contains both a universal element and an individual element.
Naturally the universal predominates to the extent that the object of knowledge itself approximates the universal, the pure form of thought; thus the universal is most clearly prevalent in the thought sciences. But the individual predominates where the object is least capable of being grasped by the determinations by thought--that is in the human sciences. The relation between the individual and the universal in the sphere of science is one of the most difficult and most important problems in the theory of science. We will consider this problem in the "Conclusion."
The peculiarity of the human sciences lies in the peculiar relation they have to their objects. Unlike the other sciences, the human sciences never deal with given objects that they can examine and assimilate, whether by intuition, perception, or empathy. They always participate in the posting of the objects they seek to know. They are not only recreative, like history: they are also co-creative, or productive. This is because every act of spiritual creation combines the individual substance with an act of consciousness that is directed toward the universal. For it is the gestalt that is completely free, by virtue of its separation from all immediate connections, and is thus completely conscious**—**it is this gestalt that becomes the spirit-bearing gestalt, because it is directed toward the universal. The fundamental characteristic of spirit is this consciousness, this self-observation and self-determination of thought in the creative act. One co-creative element in every spiritual act is consciousness, or being directed to the universal and the valid. This is not the only element, for creative substance, the living gestalt with its immediate existential relations, operates alongside or within it. The spiritual act requires the cooperation of both elements. But consciousness, or being directed to the universal and the valid, is part of every spiritual creation; it is a productive element of the creative process.