The Concrete Universal as a Critical Notion: An Introduction

The present introduction outlines the motivations behind this editorial project, which takes the concrete universal as its focus, and briefly reflects on both the critical potential of this Hegelian-inspired notion and the ambiguities it entails. It also proposes three conceptual coordinates that frame the concrete universal as a central intra-Hegelian issue: the logical structure of the ‘concept of the concept’; the reconfiguration of the relationship between concreteness and abstraction; and the dialectical interplay between logic and Realphilosophie. It is remarked that the concrete universal involves the co-constitution of the universal, particular, and singular, revealing universality as inherently self-mediating and immanently realized. It is further suggested that the concrete universal may be understood as a ‘polyfunctional’ notion that brings together various dimensions of Hegel’s system.