Minkov, Ivo2026-01-202026-01-202025-07-26Minkov, I. (2025). Deduction of the Concept of ‘Vitality’ in Hegel’s Philosophy. ETHICS IN PROGRESS, 16(1), 12–29. https://doi.org/10.14746/eip.2025.1.22084-9257https://hdl.handle.net/10593/28414In Hegel’s philosophy, the dialectic of life is based on the expedient course of the concept. This contribution sets itself the task of conducting a hermeneutical and historical-critical reconstruction of the foundation of Hegel’s speculative-dialectical method. The aim is to reveal the philosophical genesis of the concept of ‘vitality’ and its interrelation with spirit. In such a perspective, the idea of the emergence of living matter, which is opposed to the processes of decomposition in the universe, is proposed. The hypothesis here offers a treatment of negative entropy (negentropy) in terms of Hegel’s speculative-dialectical methodology and the spiritual force of the concept that resists the decay of matter. Within such a philosophical conceptualisation arises the concept of vitality, which clarifies the relation between the form of consciousness that a subject can achieve and the energy it will expend to build and structure such a form of consciousness. Of interest is the result that the infinite growth of vitality simultaneously achieves absolute spiritualisation.enAttribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/HegelSpeculative-dialectical MethodologySelf-consciousnessDialectic of LifeVitalityAbsolute Spirit.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttps://doi.org/10.14746/eip.2025.1.2