For Hegel, any change or alteration in the world that a person can make is called their 'fact', but they have the right to recognize as their 'acti...

For Hegel, any change or alteration in the world that a person can make is called their 'fact', but they have the right to recognize as their 'action' only those facts that were caused by their will. The external world is the sphere of contingency, and no one can be held responsible for the unforeseeable consequences of their action. In the syllogism: 'Oedipus knew he would kill the man at the crossroads. The man at the crossroads was his father, so Oedipus knew he was killing his father.' We can say that Oedipus:


1. is not responsible for parricide because he did not know that the man at the crossroads was his father
2. is responsible for the death of the man at the crossroads because he knew he would kill him
3. is responsible for the death of his father because he knew he would kill the man at the crossroads
4. is not responsible for any homicide because he acted to defend himself from an attack in a brawl