Hegel's Theory of Action: Between Conviction and Recognition

In his theory of action Hegel distinguishes between internal and external factors, which lead to the actuality and the value of the intentional action. As far as the internal elements are concerned, personal conviction has the priority. It precedes the decision that then becomes accomplished fact. Instead, the definition of the moral quality of the action requires the intervention of an external element, which is the mutual acknowledgment of free and autonomous self-consciousnesses within a community based on the language of reconciliation.