1. Sein and Reflexion: the Historical Antecedents of the Logic 2. The Critique of Subjective Idealism 3. Ground and its 'going to the ground': the Attack on
Substratum? Metaphysics 4. The Critique of the Scientific World-Picture 5. A Newton of a blade of grass (from substance to subject)? 6. Conclusion Bibliography Index

This volume shows how The Doctrine of Essence intersects with perennial philosophical questions including above all, the relationship between freedom and determinism. The Doctrine of Essence is of central importance, since it is a critical description of traditional categories which also functions as the justification of Hegel's speculative understanding of essence.
This study takes an historical approach to build upon Hegel's abstract argument, viewing it as a confrontation with his predecessors, inparticular - Fichte and Schelling.