Several acceptations of the term “abstract” can be found in Hegel’s works: sometimes it is used as a negative concept, referring to partial or false knowledge; other times it appears as a positive one, indicating the ability of something to become independent from empirical contingency. My aim is to argue that this ambiguity is not a logical contradiction, but rather a crucial feature of the process of abstraction itself. Therefore, I will approach the birth of writing and that of money as historical examples of the real power of abstraction, showing that, on the one hand, they involve dematerialization and decontextualization, and yet, on the other hand, they still depend on contingent aspects, such as material supports and cultural continuity.
