Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences

rit The word begins mid-sentence, continuing from "philosophical spirit" on the previous page—distinguishes itself from the manner that has become common for other subjects. That common manner presupposes a fixed schema Schema; a rigid, pre-made template or classification system applied to information from the outside and thereby organizes its materials just as externally and even more arbitrarily than the first method does. It forces parallels between things and, through a most peculiar misunderstanding, claims to satisfy the necessity of the Concept Nothwendigkeit des Begriffs; the philosophical requirement that one idea must logically and inevitably lead to the next based on its own internal meaning while actually relying on the randomness and caprice of its own connections.

We have seen this same caprice take hold of the very content of philosophy and set out on "adventures of thought." For a time, these adventures impressed those with sincere and honest intentions, but otherwise they were regarded as an absurdity pushed even to the point of madness. Instead of being impressive or mad, the actual content revealed itself more truly and more frequently as well-known...