Black Skin

G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831) does not give an upfront interpretation of human progress. Nevertheless, he situates a version of universal history at the center of his metaphysics, from which a narrative of progress can be derived. According to Hegel, the world is in the process of development through conflict or contradiction. Part of the world's development is the self-realization of its spiritual aspect, known simply as Geist, or Spirit. The freedom of Spirit is achieved through the achievement of free social institutions and free human beings. So, we look at human history to understand the realization of Spirit. Conversely, we recognize that the self-realization of Spirit, an entity not reducible to humanity, is the true meaning of human history.

master and slave. He picks up where Hegel left off, stating that “man is human only to the extent to which he tries to impose his existence on another man to be recognized by him” (Fanon 216). This presents several positive and negative things to be said about recognition: positively, it seems that the desire or need for one to be recognized is a simple human attribute, i.e. it is human to want to be recognized. Both positively and negatively, one is only human if recognized as such. Negatively, Fanon seems to suggest that the extent of the imposition of one’s existence on another becomes the measure of humanity, i.e. one can only be human if one ensures that one imposes oneself on an-other successfully. It must be clear that from the onset the concept of humanity is now problematized, but it is also qualified as the bond between self and other. This is clear when Fanon (217) says, “it is on that other being, on recognition by that other being, that his [man’s] own human worth and reality depend. It is that other being in whom the meaning of life is condensed.” Thus, I am only human if an-other recognizes me as