Section 190
Original German
a) Die Art des Bedürfnisses und der Befriedigung.
190 Das Thier hat einen beschränkten Kreis von Mitteln und Weisen der Befriedigung seiner gleichfalls beschränkten Bedürfnisse. Der Mensch beweist auch in dieser Abhängigkeit zugleich sein Hinausgehen über dieselbe und seine Allgemeinheit, zunächst durch die Vervielfältigung der Bedürfnisse und Mittel, und dann durch Zerlegung und Unterscheidung des concreten Bedürfnisses in einzelne Theile und Seiten, welche verschiedene partikularisirte, damit abstractere Bedürfnisse werden.
Im Rechte ist der Gegenstand die Person, im moralischen Standpunkte das Subject, in der Familie das Familienglied, in der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft überhaupt der Bürger (als bourgeois) — hier auf dem Standpunkte der Bedürfnisse (vergl. §. 123. Anm.) ist es das Concretum der Vorstellung, das man Mensch nennt; es ist also erst hier und auch eigentlich nur hier vom Menschen in diesem Sinne die Rede.
Musean translation
Machine-assisted Musean translation made directly from Hegel's German in the Berlin Nicolai first edition, dated 1821. Complete preface, introduction and sections 1–360, including the author's remarks and notes; no later Gans additions.
a) The Nature of Need and Satisfaction
190 The animal has a limited circle of means and ways of satisfying its equally limited needs. Even in this dependence, man at the same time proves his going beyond it and his universality, first through the multiplication of needs and means, and then through the decomposition and distinction of the concrete need into individual parts and sides, which become different particularized, and thereby more abstract, needs.
In right, the subject matter is the person; at the moral standpoint, the subject; in the family, the family member; in civil society generally, the citizen (as bourgeois)—here, at the standpoint of needs (compare § 123. Remark), it is the concrete thing of representation that is called man; so it is first here, and indeed properly only here, that man in this sense is spoken of.
Plain English translation
Independent machine-assisted Plain English translation made directly from the German first-edition source, not from the Musean edition or an existing English translation. Complete preface, introduction and sections 1–360 with the author's remarks and notes.
a) The Character of Needs and Their Satisfaction
190 An animal has a limited range of means and ways to satisfy its equally limited needs. Even in this dependence, a human being shows that he goes beyond it and has universality. He does this first by multiplying his needs and means, and then by breaking up and distinguishing a concrete need into separate parts and aspects. These become different, particularized and therefore more abstract needs.
In the sphere of right, the object is the person; at the moral standpoint, the subject; in the family, the family member; and in civil society generally, the citizen as bourgeois. Here, at the standpoint of needs (compare § 123. Anm.), the object is the concrete object of ordinary conception that we call a human being. So it is only here—and properly only here—that we speak of a human being in this sense.
About this section
Section 190 is part of Elements of the Philosophy of Right by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. This page sets the German original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 192 of 362 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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