True Faith in Faith and Knowledge

This article deals with the diverging conceptions of faith that Hegel discusses in his essay Faith and Knowledge (1802). In order to modify the usual, negative image of Hegel’s attitude towards faith, which stresses its reflective character, I analyze his idea of a ‘true faith’. My conclusion is that faith provides man with a feeling of the absolute, and thus serves as a counterweight to the power of dichotomy. Therefore, in relation to Hegel’s problem of the (im)possibility of an introduction to philosophy, true faith is a necessary preparatory step for the philosophizing subject on his way to think the absolute.