The thesis of this essay is that the critique of Hegel cannot be separated from the critique of capital, and that the critique of economic categories is greatly advanced if modelled on the critique of Hegel. It is in truth the very same critique that is to be employed. This identity arises in virtue of the fact that Hegel's standpoint may be seen as a philosophical absolutisation of the standpoint of capital,¹ on the one hand; and in virtue of the nature of capital on the other; for the form of capital may be understood as homologous with that of Hegel's "Idea".²