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[R Srivatsan]

The Plant and the Animal

689.  The religious spirit moves beyond the light religion in the drive to sublate itself. It expresses  the will to stabilize the transience of sense certainty, and of life forms from the shapeless essence of the light religion and its ever changing light showers. Hegel now postulates the emergence of a religion of perception where perception is the recognition of stable patterns of life and the world.

The first of these is the plant (and flower) religion. There is some debate on whether Hegel was referring to Hinduism here, but Harris thinks this is a much more primitive proto-tribal form (though Hegel sees the classical Hinduism of Manu's time as the final point of the plant religion in his Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion). 

At first, there is a peaceful, (near beatnik) community life in the religion of flowers, but there is almost an immediate transition to a life of conflict, i.e., a religion of animality.  Here, not only are animals worshipped, but also the community has an animal spirit which seeks to consume, to kill the other.

At this point, Harris sees the moments of the religious (plant-animal) spirit's moments being represented by Hegel thus:

Consciousness:  perception (of stable forms)

Self-consciousness:  Life and Struggle to the Death

Reason: Observation of organic Nature and classification of forms

Spirit: The Law of the Heart and the Frenzy of Self-conceit.

The self in these configurations are associated with a totemistic association with animals, and the immediate recognition through rage and red eyes of any other totemistic organization.

While Hegel may have tried to find some historical correlates in oriental religions to this argument, there is little proof of any substance to these logical conceptualizations.  The forms that we know are far too advanced and complex (even in tribal religions) than these rudimentary primitive concepts.

690.  Hegel postulates that Spirit quickly passes through these forms of reverence of Nature to the reproduction of nature by the artist -- as trees, animals, etc.  The self now reproduces what was revered as part of perception, and these reproductions, statues, forms of art are the focus of community spirit as religion.

Srivats

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R Srivatsan
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There is only one solution if old age is not to be an absurd parody of our former life, and that is to go on pursuing ends that give our existence a meaning – devotion to individuals, to groups or to causes, social, political, intellectual or creative work … in old age we should wish still to have passions strong enough to prevent us turning in on ourselves. One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion. - Simone de Beauvoir