Abstract
In Hegel's work, freedom is understood as being-with-oneself-in-the-other. This paradoxical conception shall be illustrated with Hegel's understanding of human action: The origin of an action is the purpose; this purpose, however, is sublated or transformed once it is made real in the community.
Due to this transformation the actor himself is never fully able to recognize his purpose in its realization. The sole fact that the purpose is transformed does not mean that it is annihilated: On the contrary, it gains reality only as part of the shared world.
Hegel maintains thus that the action - with its moment of estrangement - is seat of the good, rather than the purpose.