This chapter provides a focused analysis of Hegel’s brief but pivotal use of Hamlet’s encounter with Yorick’s skull in his Phenomenology of Spirit (§333). It argues that this moment functions as a microcosm of Hegel’s dialectical method. Hegel invokes the scene to stage a powerful critique of reductive materialism, specifically the pseudoscience of phrenology, by contrasting the skull’s inert material “thatness” with the rich historical meaning, or “whatness,” conferred upon it by Hamlet’s memory, passive associations, linguistic expression, including a bizarre self-mocking dialogue with the skull-as-Yorick, and intersubjective recognition. The analysis shows that the scene also reveals the insufficiency of Phrenology’s reductive materialism’s philosophical opposite: the equally reductive stance of subjective idealism. The chapter traces how this tension between matter and spirit exemplifies the dialectical process of sublation (Aufhebung), demonstrating Hegel’s claim that Shakespeare’s art performs philosophical work by reconciling spirit and matter, thereby propelling consciousness toward a more comprehensive self-understanding.