The Quest for Ultimate Reality: Comparing Hegel's Geist and Shankara's Brahman
Keywords:
Giest, Brahman, Adhyasa, Absolute Idealism, Realism IdealismAbstract
The Brahman of Shankara and the Geist of Hegel are considered to be ultimate realities in their respective philosophical traditions, serving as the underlying foundation of all existence. These concepts are seen as the ultimate source and basis of everything that exists in the Universe. Kaufmann argues that Hegel's Geist represents an extreme form of Idealism, where the mind or spirit is seen as the ultimate reality that shapes and governs all of existence. However, while Hegel's Philosophy of Absolute Idealism tends to emphasize an extreme form of Idealism, Shankara's philosophy is often regarded as a synthesis of Idealism and Realism. The purpose of this paper is to draw a comparison between Hegel's concept of Geist and his philosophy of Absolute Idealism, and Shankara's concept of Brahman, which is often mistakenly assumed to be similar. Despite some similarities, there are notable dissimilarities between these two concepts. This paper will analyze the differences between Geist, which pushes Hegel towards the extreme of Idealism and positions him as an Absolute Idealist, and Brahman, which facilitates the reconciliation of Idealism and Realism in Shankara's philosophy, demonstrating that the dissimilarities between these concepts outweigh the similarities.
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