"In this remark, I will consider in more detail identity as the law of identity which is usually adduced as the first law of thought. This proposition in its positive expression A = A is, in the first instance, nothing more than the expression of an empty tautology. It has therefore been rightly remarked that this law of thought has no content and leads no further. It is thus the empty identity that is rigidly adhered to by those who take it, as such, to be something true and are given to saying that identity is not difference, but that identity and difference are different." Hegel, The Science of Logic p.413, translated by A. V. Miller, George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1969
[It should indeed be said at the outset that Hegelians are masters at dodging criticism. Thus, they might be prone to argue that Hegel "never dismissed the law of identity." However, not only have I engaged with repeated Hegelians who have done exactly this, only to walk it back when confronted by the argument I present here, thereby proving that they prey on ignorance, but Hegel himself most assuredly contends that his dialectical method has collapsed identity into its own contradiction, which would destroy identity. The argument presented here makes it impossible for Hegelians to deny the authority and necessity of identity, thus obliterating not only their irrational dialectical narrative against identity, but obliterating the necessary ground of dialectic itself, which is, as Hegel declare it from the beginning, that "contradiction is the rule of the true, non-contradiction is the rule of the false." But this is absolutely false, and the authority and necessity of identity prove it.]
Premise 1: If the law of identity (A = A) is merely an "empty tautology" that "has no content and leads no further," then no substantive philosophical work can be accomplished by employing it.
Premise 2: Hegel's entire philosophical system, his dialectic, his categories (Being, Nothing, Becoming, Essence, etc.), his critique of abstract identity, his concept of self-related negativity, his doctrine of sublation (Aufhebung), is presented as substantive philosophical work that advances understanding.
Premise 3: Every single element of Hegel's system requires:
--Distinguishing one concept from another (Being from Nothing, Essence from Appearance, opposition, negation, sublation).
--Maintaining stable reference to these concepts throughout thousands of pages of argumentation.
--Tracking the "movement" from one category to another (which requires identifying what came before and what comes after).
--Communicating determinate meanings where each term means.
--Distinguishing his dialectical system from competing philosophical systems.
--Preserving the identity of concepts even as they allegedly sublate into their opposites.
Premise 4: Every activity listed in Premise 3 necessarily presupposes and employs the law of identity. Without A = A, Hegel cannot distinguish anything from anything else, cannot refer to any concept determinately, cannot construct any argument, and cannot communicate any meaning whatsoever.
Premise 5: Therefore, Hegel's entire philosophical system (every premise, every conclusion, every dialectical move, every page of the Science of Logic) is constructed using and depends entirely upon the law of identity.
Conclusion: Hegel's position is radically self-contradictory. He uses the law of identity to build an entire systematic philosophy, while claiming that very law is an "empty tautology" that accomplishes nothing. He saws off the branch on which he sits. His dismissal of identity is therefore performatively self-refuting, and his entire system collapses into incoherence the moment we notice that it is built entirely on the foundation he declares empty.
The Totalized Dilemma:
Either:
- The law of identity enables substantive philosophical work → then Hegel's entire system confirms identity's necessity (contradicting his dismissal), OR
- The law of identity enables no substantive work → then Hegel's entire system accomplishes nothing (self-refuting)
The Inescapable Consequence:
Hegel cannot write a single meaningful sentence, construct a single argument, or articulate a single dialectical category without employing the very principle he dismisses. His system is not built against the law of identity, it is built with it, on it, through it, and because of it. The dismissal is therefore not just false but absurdly, demonstrably, undeniably false at every point in his corpus.
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