Crime as negatively infinite judgement in philosophy of right

Abstract

At the outset of Philosophy of Right, in the second section of the first main chapter entitled as "Abstract Right", Hegel defines crime as "negatively infinite judgement". It must be noted that, in Hegel's system, there are two usages of "negativity" and again two usages of "infinite"; that is to say, both can be used either in the affirmative or in the pejorative sense, and here Hegel uses these terms in the latter context.