The relationship of the Phenomenology to the rest of the systemis as an entrance exam. It is a test for those who have presuppositions about the world that they are unable to suspend, in order to begin with Hegel’s Logic and follow the development of thought that is unfolded there. The Phenomenology charts alternative perspectives on how we know the world and demonstrates the inadequacy of all of them. For this reason, Hegel calls this discussion ‘the pathway of doubt, or more precisely as the way of despair’ (PS, p. 49).
Modernist discourse [...] incorporates semantic devices - such as the labeling of theism as 'religion' and naturalism as 'science' - that work to prevent a dangerous debate over fundamental assumptions from breaking out in the open.
