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In philosophy (often specifically metaphysics), the absolute,^[a] in most common usage, is a perfect, self-sufficient reality that depends upon nothing external to itself.^[2] In theology, the term is also used to designate the supreme being.^[3]

Hegel

Hegel used the term das Absolute in his German literary works. Contrary to some popular accounts,^[b] the term is not specific to Hegel. It first occurs in the work of Nicholas of Cusa, and Hegel's own usage was developed in response to that of his contemporary Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.^[4]

Hegel's use of "absolute" is easily misunderstood. Michael Inwood, however, clarifies: derived from the Latin absolutus, it means "not dependent on, conditional on, relative to or restricted by anything else; self-contained, perfect, complete."^[4] In the words of scholar Allegra de Laurentiis, this means that absolute knowing can only denote "an 'absolute relation' in which the ground of experience and the experiencing agent are one and the same: the object known is explicitly the subject who knows."^[5] That is, the only "thing" (which is really an activity) that is truly absolute is that which is entirely self-conditioned, and according to Hegel, this only occurs when spirit takes itself up as its own object. In some respects, this view of Hegel was anticipated by Johann Gottlieb Fichte's theory of the absolute self.^[6] The final section of Hegel's Philosophy of Spirit presents the three modes of such absolute knowing: art, religion, and philosophy.^[c]

For Hegel, as understood by Martin Heidegger, the absolute is "spirit, that which is present to itself in the certainty of unconditional self-knowing".^[8] As Hegel is understood by Frederick Copleston, "[l]ogic studies the absolute 'in itself'; the philosophy of nature studies the absolute 'for itself'; and the philosophy of spirit studies the absolute 'in and for itself'."^[9]

In British philosophy, self-identified neo-Hegelian F. H. Bradley distinguishes the concept of absolute from God, whereas Josiah Royce, another neo-Hegelian and founder of the American idealism school of philosophy, has equated them.^[6]

Indian religions

The concept of the Absolute has been used to interpret the early texts of the Indian religions such as those attributed to Yajnavalkya, Nagarjuna and Adi Shankara.^[10]

According to Glyn Richards, the early texts of Hinduism state that the Brahman or the nondual Brahman–Atman is the Absolute.^[11]^[12]^[13]

According to Takeshi Umehara, some ancient texts of Buddhism state that the "truly Absolute and the truly Free must be nothingness",^[14] the "void".^[15] Yet, the early Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna, states Paul Williams, does not present "emptiness" as some kind of Absolute; rather, it is "the very absence (a pure non-existence) of inherent existence" in Mādhyamaka school of the Buddhist philosophy.^[16]

Endnotes

^ Hegel capitalized das Absolute because German grammar requires this of all nouns. Yet, in the words of one of Hegel's recent translators, capitalization in English has "no justification in Hegel's text and, in my view, draws an unwarranted sharp distinction between what is a technical use and what is not. Again, it should be left to the reader (or to a note) to decide this question and not imposed by the translator."^[1] Regardless, the word is sometimes capitalized in English works, whether in relation to Hegel or not.
^ E.g., Copleston 1963, pp. 166–80.
^ As Walter Jaeschke, German scholar and editor of the critical Gesammelte Werke edition of Hegel's works puts it, "It is only in this sphere [of absolute knowing] that spirit brings forth a shape – an image of itself, as it were – and relates itself to this shape in the forms of intuition [art], representation [religion], and comprehending thinking [philosophy/logic]. It is here that spirit relates itself to itself and is absolute precisely in its self-relation. It cognizes itself as what it is and it is with itself (bei sich) and free in this cognition. Only with this cognition is the concept of spirit – as the concept of a thinking relation to self – complete."^[7]

References

^ Inwood 2018, p. xxi.
^ Clément, Élisabeth; Demonque, Chantal; Hansen-Løve, Laurence; et al. (2011). "absolu". In Hansen-Løve, Laurence (ed.). La philosophie de A à Z (in French). Paris: Hatier. p. 11. ISBN 978-2-218-94735-3. OCLC 795416746.
^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "The Absolute" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^ ^a ^b Inwood 1992, p. 27.
^ de Laurentiis 2009, p. 249.
^ ^a ^b Sprigge, T. L. S. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor and Francis. doi:10.4324/9780415249126-N001-1.
^ Jaeschke 2013, p. 179.
^ Heidegger, Martin (2002). Heidegger: Off the Beaten Track. Cambridge University Press. pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-0-521-80507-0.
^ Frederick Charles Copleston (2003). 18th and 19th Century German Philosophy. A&C Black. pp. 173–174. ISBN 978-0-8264-6901-4.
^ Nakamura, Hajime (1964). The Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India-China-Tibet-Japan. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 53–57. ISBN 978-0-8248-0078-9., Quote: "Thus the ultimate Absolute presumed by the Indians is not a personal god but an impersonal and metaphysical Principle. Here we can see the impersonal character of the Absolute in Indian thought. The inclination of grasping Absolute negatively necessarily leads (as Hegel would say) to the negation of the negative expression itself."
^ Richards, Glyn (1995). "Modern Hinduism". Studies in Religion. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 117–127. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-24147-7_9. ISBN 978-1-349-24149-1.
^ Chaudhuri, Haridas (1954). "The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy". Philosophy East and West. 4 (1): 47–66. doi:10.2307/1396951. JSTOR 1396951., Quote: "The Self or Atman is the Absolute viewed from the subjective standpoint (arkara), or a real mode of existence of the Absolute."
^ Simoni-Wastila, Henry (2002). "Māyā and radical particularity: Can particular persons be one with Brahman?". International Journal of Hindu Studies. 6 (1). Springer: 1–18. doi:10.1007/s11407-002-0009-5. S2CID 144665828.
^ Umehara, Takeshi (1970). "Heidegger and Buddhism". Philosophy East and West. 20 (3): 271–281. doi:10.2307/1398308. JSTOR 1398308.
^ Orru, Marco; Wang, Amy (1992). "Durkheim, Religion, and Buddhism". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 31 (1): 47–61. doi:10.2307/1386831. JSTOR 1386831. S2CID 144043208.
^ Williams, Paul (2002). Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. pp. 146–148.

Works cited

Copleston, Frederick Charles (1963). History of Philosophy: Fichte to Nietzsche. Paulist Press. ISBN 978-0-8091-0071-2.
de Laurentiis, Allegra (2009). "Absolute Knowing". In Kenneth R. Westphal (ed.). The Blackwell Guide to Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. Wiley-Blackwell.
Inwood, Michael (1992). A Hegel Dictionary. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0631175339.
Inwood, Michael (2018). "Note on the Translation and Commentary". The Phenomenology of Spirit. Oxford University Press.
Jaeschke, Walter (2013). "Absolute Spirit: Art, Religion and Philosophy". In Allegra de Laurentiis and Jeffrey Edwards (ed.). The Bloomsbury Companion to Hegel. Bloomsbury Academic.

[2] Hegel capitalized das Absolute because German grammar requires this of all nouns. Yet, in the words of one of Hegel's recent translators, capitalization in English has "no justification in Hegel's text and, in my view, draws an unwarranted sharp distinction between what is a technical use and what is not. Again, it should be left to the reader (or to a note) to decide this question and not imposed by the translator."^[1] Regardless, the word is sometimes capitalized in English works, whether in relation to Hegel or not.

[5] E.g., Copleston 1963, pp. 166–80.

[10] As Walter Jaeschke, German scholar and editor of the critical Gesammelte Werke edition of Hegel's works puts it, "It is only in this sphere [of absolute knowing] that spirit brings forth a shape – an image of itself, as it were – and relates itself to this shape in the forms of intuition [art], representation [religion], and comprehending thinking [philosophy/logic]. It is here that spirit relates itself to itself and is absolute precisely in its self-relation. It cognizes itself as what it is and it is with itself (bei sich) and free in this cognition. Only with this cognition is the concept of spirit – as the concept of a thinking relation to self – complete."^[7]

[FOOTNOTEInwood2018xxi-1] Inwood 2018, p. xxi.

[3] Clément, Élisabeth; Demonque, Chantal; Hansen-Løve, Laurence; et al. (2011). "absolu". In Hansen-Løve, Laurence (ed.). La philosophie de A à Z (in French). Paris: Hatier. p. 11. ISBN 978-2-218-94735-3. OCLC 795416746.

[CathEncy2-4] Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "The Absolute" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

[FOOTNOTEInwood199227-6] Inwood 1992, p. 27.

[FOOTNOTEde_Laurentiis2009249-7] Laurentiis 2009, p. 249.

[sprigge-8] Sprigge, T. L. S. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor and Francis. doi:10.4324/9780415249126-N001-1.

[FOOTNOTEJaeschke2013179-9] Jaeschke 2013, p. 179.

[Heidegger2002-11] Heidegger, Martin (2002). Heidegger: Off the Beaten Track. Cambridge University Press. pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-0-521-80507-0.

[Copleston2003-12] Frederick Charles Copleston (2003). 18th and 19th Century German Philosophy. A&C Black. pp. 173–174. ISBN 978-0-8264-6901-4.

[13] Nakamura, Hajime (1964). The Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India-China-Tibet-Japan. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 53–57. ISBN 978-0-8248-0078-9., Quote: "Thus the ultimate Absolute presumed by the Indians is not a personal god but an impersonal and metaphysical Principle. Here we can see the impersonal character of the Absolute in Indian thought. The inclination of grasping Absolute negatively necessarily leads (as Hegel would say) to the negation of the negative expression itself."

[14] Richards, Glyn (1995). "Modern Hinduism". Studies in Religion. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 117–127. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-24147-7_9. ISBN 978-1-349-24149-1.

[15] Chaudhuri, Haridas (1954). "The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy". Philosophy East and West. 4 (1): 47–66. doi:10.2307/1396951. JSTOR 1396951., Quote: "The Self or Atman is the Absolute viewed from the subjective standpoint (arkara), or a real mode of existence of the Absolute."

[16] Simoni-Wastila, Henry (2002). "Māyā and radical particularity: Can particular persons be one with Brahman?". International Journal of Hindu Studies. 6 (1). Springer: 1–18. doi:10.1007/s11407-002-0009-5. S2CID 144665828.

[17] Umehara, Takeshi (1970). "Heidegger and Buddhism". Philosophy East and West. 20 (3): 271–281. doi:10.2307/1398308. JSTOR 1398308.

[18] Orru, Marco; Wang, Amy (1992). "Durkheim, Religion, and Buddhism". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 31 (1): 47–61. doi:10.2307/1386831. JSTOR 1386831. S2CID 144043208.

[19] Williams, Paul (2002). Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. pp. 146–148.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Short description|Concept of an ultimate being in philosophy}}
+{{Short description|Philosophical or theological concept}}
-{{About|the concept in Hegelian philosophy|the doctrine of absolute truth|Universality (philosophy)|other uses|Absolute (disambiguation)}}
 {{Use American English|date=January 2019}}
 {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
+{{for-multi|the doctrine of absolute truth|Universality (philosophy)|other uses|Absolute (disambiguation)}}
+{{Too few opinions|date=August 2021}}
+In [[philosophy]] (often specifically [[metaphysics]]), the '''absolute''',{{efn|Hegel capitalized ''das Absolute'' because German grammar requires this of all nouns. Yet, in the words of one of Hegel's recent translators, capitalization in English has "no justification in Hegel's text and, in my view, draws an unwarranted sharp distinction between what is a technical use and what is not. Again, it should be left to the reader (or to a note) to decide this question and not imposed by the translator."{{sfn|Inwood|2018|p=xxi}} Regardless, the word is sometimes capitalized in English works, whether in relation to Hegel or not.}} in most common usage, is a perfect, [[self-sustainability|self-sufficient]] reality that depends upon nothing external to itself.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clément |first=Élisabeth |url= |title=La philosophie de A à Z |last2=Demonque |first2=Chantal |last3=Hansen-Løve |first3=Laurence |last4=Kahn |first4=Pierre |date=2011 |publisher=Hatier |isbn=978-2-218-94735-3 |editor-last=Hansen-Løve |editor-first=Laurence |location=Paris |pages=11 |language=fr |chapter=absolu |oclc=795416746 |display-authors=3}}</ref> In [[theology]], the term is also used to designate the supreme being.<ref name="CathEncy2">{{CathEncy|wstitle=The Absolute}} </ref>
-In [[philosophy]], the '''Absolute''' is the term used for the ultimate or most supreme being, usually conceived as either encompassing "the sum of all being, actual and potential",<ref name="CathEncy"/> or otherwise transcending the concept of "being" altogether. While the general concept of a supreme being has been present since ancient times, the exact term "Absolute" was first introduced by [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]], and features prominently in the work of many of his followers. In [[Absolute idealism]] and [[British idealism]], it serves as a concept for the "unconditioned reality which is either the spiritual ground of all being or the whole of things considered as a spiritual unity".<ref name=sprigge>{{cite book|last=Sprigge|first=T. L. S.|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=Taylor and Francis|doi=10.4324/9780415249126-N001-1|url= https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/absolute-the/v-1|year=1998}}</ref>
-==History==
+==Hegel==
-{{Main|Absolute idealism}}
+{{Main|Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel#Absolute spirit}}
-{{See also|God|Ultimate reality|Nondualism}}
+{{See also|Absolute idealism|British idealism}}
+Hegel used the term ''das Absolute'' in his German literary works.
-The concept of "the absolute" was introduced in modern philosophy by [[Hegel]], defined as "the sum of all being, actual and potential".<ref name="Copleston1963">{{cite book|author=Frederick Charles Copleston|title=History of Philosophy: Fichte to Nietzsche|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1Ai7PB_FZsC |year=1963|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-0071-2|pages=166–180}}</ref><ref name="CathEncy">{{CathEncy|wstitle=The Absolute}}</ref> For Hegel, as understood by [[Martin Heidegger]], the Absolute is "the spirit, that which is present to itself in the certainty of unconditional self-knowing".<ref name="Heidegger2002">{{cite book|author=Martin Heidegger|title=Heidegger: Off the Beaten Track|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QImd2ARqQPMC |year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-80507-0|pages=97–98}}</ref> As Hegel is understood by [[Frederick Copleston]], "Logic studies the Absolute 'in itself'; the philosophy of Nature studies the Absolute 'for itself'; and the philosophy of Spirit studies the Absolute 'in and for itself'."<ref name="Copleston2003">{{cite book|author=Frederick Charles Copleston|title=18th and 19th Century German Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RjWCTI0OFbgC&pg=PA173|year=2003|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-8264-6901-4|pages=173–174}}</ref> The concept is also found in the works of [[Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling|F. W. J. Schelling]], and was anticipated by [[Johann Gottlieb Fichte]].<ref name=sprigge/> In English philosophy, [[F. H. Bradley]] has distinguished the concept of Absolute from [[God]], while [[Josiah Royce]], founder of the American idealism school of philosophy, has equated them.<ref name=sprigge/>
+<!-- parts of this section were copied over from the main article on Hegel to correct misconceptions in sources by non-specialists -->
+Contrary to some popular accounts,{{efn|E.g., {{harvnb|Copleston|1963|pp=166–80}}.}} the term is not specific to Hegel. It first occurs in the work of [[Nicholas of Cusa]], and Hegel's own usage was developed in response to that of his contemporary [[Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling]].{{sfn|Inwood|1992|p=27}}
+Hegel's use of "absolute" is easily misunderstood. [[Michael Inwood]], however, clarifies: derived from the Latin ''absolutus'', it means "not dependent on, conditional on, relative to or restricted by anything else; self-contained, perfect, complete."{{sfn|Inwood|1992|p=27}} In the words of scholar [[Allegra de Laurentiis]], this means that absolute knowing can only denote "an 'absolute relation' in which the ground of experience and the experiencing agent are one and the same: the object known is explicitly the subject who knows."{{sfn|de Laurentiis|2009|p=249}} That is, the only "thing" (which is really an activity) that is truly absolute is that which is entirely self-conditioned, and according to Hegel, this only occurs when spirit takes itself up as its own object. In some respects, this view of Hegel was anticipated by [[Johann Gottlieb Fichte]]'s theory of the absolute self.<ref name="sprigge">{{cite book |last=Sprigge |first=T. L. S. |url=https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/absolute-the/v-1 |title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Taylor and Francis |year=1998 |doi=10.4324/9780415249126-N001-1}}</ref> The final section of Hegel's Philosophy of Spirit presents the three modes of such absolute knowing: art, religion, and philosophy.{{efn|
-==Indian religions==
+As [[Walter Jaeschke]], German scholar and editor of the critical ''Gesammelte Werke'' edition of Hegel's works puts it, "It is only in this sphere [of absolute knowing] that spirit brings forth a shape – an image of itself, as it were – and relates itself to this shape in the forms of intuition [art], representation [religion], and comprehending thinking [philosophy/logic]. It is here that spirit relates itself to itself and is absolute precisely in its self-relation. It cognizes itself as what it is and it is with itself (''bei sich'') and free in this cognition. Only with this cognition is the concept of spirit – as the concept of a thinking relation to self – complete."{{sfn|Jaeschke|2013|p=179}}}}
-The concept of the Absolute has been used to interpret the early texts of the [[Indian religions]] such as those attributed to [[Yajnavalkya]], [[Nagarjuna]] and [[Adi Shankara]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Hajime Nakamura|title=The Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India-China-Tibet-Japan|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sePiBcehtYcC |year=1964|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-0078-9|pages=53–57}}, Quote: "Thus the ultimate Absolute presumed by the Indians is not a personal god but an impersonal and metaphysical Principle. Here we can see the impersonal character of the Absolute in Indian thought. The inclination of grasping Absolute negatively necessarily leads (as Hegel would say) to the negation of the negative expression itself."</ref>
+For Hegel, as understood by [[Martin Heidegger]], the absolute is "spirit, that which is present to itself in the certainty of unconditional self-knowing".<ref name="Heidegger2002">{{cite book|first=Martin|last=Heidegger|title=Heidegger: Off the Beaten Track|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QImd2ARqQPMC |year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-80507-0|pages=97–98}}</ref> As Hegel is understood by [[Frederick Copleston]], "[l]ogic studies the absolute 'in itself'; the philosophy of nature studies the absolute 'for itself'; and the philosophy of spirit studies the absolute 'in and for itself'."<ref name="Copleston2003">{{cite book|author=Frederick Charles Copleston|title=18th and 19th Century German Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RjWCTI0OFbgC&pg=PA173|year=2003|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-8264-6901-4|pages=173–174}}</ref>
-In [[Jainism]], Absolute Knowledge or ''Kewalya Gnan'', is said to be attained by the [[Arihant (Jainism)|Arihant]]as and [[Tirthankara]]s, who reflects in their knowing the 360 degrees of the truth and events of past, present and future. All 24 Tirthankaras and many others are Kewalya Gnani or Carriers of Absolute Knowledge.
+In British philosophy, self-identified neo-Hegelian [[F. H. Bradley]] distinguishes the concept of absolute from [[God]], whereas [[Josiah Royce]], another neo-Hegelian and founder of the [[American idealism]] school of philosophy, has equated them.<ref name="sprigge" />
-According to Takeshi Umehara, some ancient texts of [[Buddhism]] state that the "truly Absolute and the truly Free must be nothingness",<ref>{{cite journal | last=Umehara | first=Takeshi | title=Heidegger and Buddhism | journal=Philosophy East and West | volume=20 | issue=3 | year=1970 | doi=10.2307/1398308 | pages=271–281| jstor=1398308 }}</ref> the "void".<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Orru | first1=Marco | last2=Wang | first2=Amy | title=Durkheim, Religion, and Buddhism | journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | volume=31 | issue=1 | year=1992 | doi=10.2307/1386831 | pages=47–61| jstor=1386831 }}</ref> Yet, the early Buddhist scholar [[Nagarjuna]], states Paul Williams, does not present "emptiness" as some kind of Absolute, rather it is "the very absence (a pure non-existence) of inherent existence" in [[Mādhyamaka]] school of the Buddhist philosophy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams |first= Paul|title= Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition|year= 2002| pages= 146–148}}</ref>
+==Indian religions==
-According to Glyn Richards, the early texts of [[Hinduism]] state that the [[Brahman]] or the nondual Brahman–[[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] is the Absolute.<ref>{{cite book | last=Richards | first=Glyn | title=Studies in Religion | chapter=Modern Hinduism | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | year=1995 | isbn=978-1-349-24149-1 | doi=10.1007/978-1-349-24147-7_9 | pages=117–127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Chaudhuri | first=Haridas | title=The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy | journal=Philosophy East and West | volume=4 | issue=1 | year=1954 | doi=10.2307/1396951 | pages=47–66| jstor=1396951 }}, Quote: "The Self or Atman is the Absolute viewed from the subjective standpoint (arkara), or a real mode of existence of the Absolute."</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Simoni-Wastila | first=Henry | title=Māyā and radical particularity: Can particular persons be one with Brahman? | journal=International Journal of Hindu Studies | publisher=Springer | volume=6 | issue=1 | year=2002 | doi=10.1007/s11407-002-0009-5 | pages=1–18| s2cid=144665828 }}</ref>
+The concept of the Absolute has been used to interpret the early texts of the [[Indian religions]] such as those attributed to [[Yajnavalkya]], [[Nagarjuna]] and [[Adi Shankara]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Hajime|last=Nakamura|title=The Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India-China-Tibet-Japan|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sePiBcehtYcC |year=1964|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-0078-9|pages=53–57}}, Quote: "Thus the ultimate Absolute presumed by the Indians is not a personal god but an impersonal and metaphysical Principle. Here we can see the impersonal character of the Absolute in Indian thought. The inclination of grasping Absolute negatively necessarily leads (as Hegel would say) to the negation of the negative expression itself."</ref>
+According to Glyn Richards, the early texts of [[Hinduism]] state that the [[Brahman]] or the [[Nonduality (spirituality)|nondual]] Brahman–[[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]] is the Absolute.<ref>{{cite book | last=Richards | first=Glyn | title=Studies in Religion | chapter=Modern Hinduism | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | year=1995 | isbn=978-1-349-24149-1 | doi=10.1007/978-1-349-24147-7_9 | pages=117–127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Chaudhuri | first=Haridas | title=The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy | journal=Philosophy East and West | volume=4 | issue=1 | year=1954 | doi=10.2307/1396951 | pages=47–66| jstor=1396951 }}, Quote: "The Self or Atman is the Absolute viewed from the subjective standpoint (arkara), or a real mode of existence of the Absolute."</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Simoni-Wastila | first=Henry | title=Māyā and radical particularity: Can particular persons be one with Brahman? | journal=International Journal of Hindu Studies | publisher=Springer | volume=6 | issue=1 | year=2002 | doi=10.1007/s11407-002-0009-5 | pages=1–18| s2cid=144665828 }}</ref>
+According to Takeshi Umehara, some ancient texts of [[Buddhism]] state that the "truly Absolute and the truly Free must be nothingness",<ref>{{cite journal | last=Umehara | first=Takeshi | title=Heidegger and Buddhism | journal=Philosophy East and West | volume=20 | issue=3 | year=1970 | doi=10.2307/1398308 | pages=271–281| jstor=1398308 }}</ref> the "void".<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Orru | first1=Marco | last2=Wang | first2=Amy | title=Durkheim, Religion, and Buddhism | journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | volume=31 | issue=1 | year=1992 | doi=10.2307/1386831 | pages=47–61| jstor=1386831 | s2cid=144043208 }}</ref> Yet, the early Buddhist scholar [[Nagarjuna]], states Paul Williams, does not present "emptiness" as some kind of Absolute; rather, it is "the very absence (a pure non-existence) of inherent existence" in [[Mādhyamaka]] school of the [[Buddhist philosophy]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams |first= Paul|title= Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition|year= 2002| pages= 146–148}}</ref>
-The term has also been adopted by [[Aldous Huxley]] in his [[perennial philosophy]] to interpret various religious traditions, including Indian religions,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Perennial Philosophy|last=Huxley|first=Aldous|date=2009-01-01|publisher=Harper Perennial Modern Classics|isbn=9780061724947|location=New York|language=English}}</ref> and influenced other strands of nondualistic and New Age thought.
 ==See also==
@@ Line 28: / Line 34: @@
 {{div col|colwidth=15em}}
 * [[Absolute idealism]]
-* [[Absolute Infinite]]
+* [[Absolute infinite]]
-* [[Adi-Buddha]]
-* [[Ātman (Buddhism)]]
-* [[Ātman (Hinduism)]]—[[Paramatman]]
-* [[Being]]
-* [[Brahman]]—[[Para Brahman]]—[[Nirguna Brahman]]
 * [[Buddhahood]]
 * [[Buddha-nature]]
-* [[Chaos (mythology)|Chaos]]
+* [[Chaos (mythology)]]
-* [[Conceptions of God]]—[[Existence of God]]—[[Names of God]]
-* [[Dharmakāya]]
-* [[Dialectical monism]]—[[Neutral monism]]
 * [[Eternal Buddha]]
+* [[Henosis]]
-* [[God]]—[[Godhead (disambiguation)|Godhead]]<1--Intentional link to DAB page-->—[[God the Father]]
 * [[Indeterminacy (philosophy)|Indeterminacy]]
 * [[Intrinsic value (ethics)|Intrinsic value]]
-* [[Meaning of life]]
 * [[Monad (philosophy)|Monad]]—[[Monism]]—[[Henology|The One]]
-* [[Mysticism]]
 * [[Non-absolutism]]
-* [[Logos]]—[[Nous]]—[[Reason]]
+* [[Pantheism]]—[[Cosmos]]
-* [[Pantheism]]—[[Cosmos]]—[[Panentheism]]
-* [[Pleroma]]
-* [[Reality]]
 * [[Reality in Buddhism]]
+* [[Supreme deity (disambiguation)]]
-* [[Sacred]]
-* [[Śūnyatā]]
+* [[Ultimate reality]]
-* [[Supreme Being]]
 * [[Universality (philosophy)]]
 * [[Tian]]
 * [[Tao]]
 * [[Wusheng Laomu]]{{div col end}}
+==Endnotes==
+{{notelist}}
 == References ==
 {{Reflist}}
+=== Works cited ===
+{{refbegin|30em|refs=}}
+*{{Cite book | last = Copleston | first = Frederick Charles | year = 1963 | title = History of Philosophy: Fichte to Nietzsche	 | publisher = Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-0071-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1Ai7PB_FZsC}}
+*{{Cite book | last = 	de Laurentiis | first = Allegra	 | year = 2009 | chapter = 	Absolute Knowing| title = 	The Blackwell Guide to Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit	| editor = Kenneth R. Westphal	 | publisher = 	Wiley-Blackwell	}}
+* {{cite book |last1=Inwood |first1=Michael |title=A Hegel Dictionary |date=1992 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-0631175339}}
+* {{cite book |last1=Inwood |first1=Michael |chapter=Note on the Translation and Commentary |title=The Phenomenology of Spirit|date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
+*	{{Cite book	 | last =Jaeschke | first = Walter | year = 2013 | chapter = Absolute Spirit: Art, Religion and Philosophy	| title = 	The Bloomsbury Companion to Hegel| editor = 	Allegra de Laurentiis and Jeffrey Edwards | publisher = 	Bloomsbury Academic	}}
+{{refend}}
 {{Clear}}
@@ Line 74: / Line 78: @@
 [[Category:History of religion]]
 [[Category:Idealism]]
-[[Category:Jain philosophy]]
 [[Category:Metaphysical theories]]
-[[Category:Metaphysics]]
-[[Category:Monism]]
-[[Category:Names of God in Hinduism]]
-[[Category:Nondualism]]
 [[Category:Ontology]]
-[[Category:Panentheism]]
-[[Category:Pantheism]]
-[[Category:Perennial philosophy]]
 [[Category:Religious philosophical concepts]]
-[[Category:Singular God| ]]
 [[Category:Superlatives in religion]]
-[[Category:Transtheism]]
 [[Category:Universalism]]

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