Sublating Time: Hegel’s speculative philosophy and digital aesthetics

In this paper I discuss G.W.F. Hegel's philosophy, arguing that the immanent, self-determining and dialectical movement of his 'speculative thinking' offers insights into contemporary aesthetics, the knowledge of reality, and of meaning in the transitoriness of the digital image. I relate speculative thinking as ontology to the ontology and temporality of the digital image, and focus my discussion around one of the central elements in Hegel's philosophy: 'sublation'. Contra postmodernism, Hegel's thought is shown to have critical contemporary import in defining reason and objective knowledge, and the value and interest of the work of art in the contexts of digital aesthetics.