A key section in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit which illustrates the movement of the dialectic in terms of the search for a ‘mutually recognizing’ true self-consciousness. Although the master controls the slave the latter gains a degree of self-realization through his work. However, the fact that neither ‘recognizes’ the other as a free being means that true self-consciousness is not achieved. Hence, the division between them becomes concentrated in one individual, the ‘Unhappy Consciousness’.
— Ian Fraser
