People
Johann Gottlieb Fichte
1762-1814
Germany
Ethics considers the object of consciousness not as something given or even as something
constructed by necessary laws of consciousness, but rather as something to be produced by a freely
acting subject, consciously striving to establish and to accomplish its own goals and guided only by
its own self-legislated laws. The specific task of Fichte's ethics is therefore, first of
all, to deduce the categorical imperative (in its distinctively moral sense) from the general
obligation to determine oneself freely, and, second, to deduce from this the particular obligations
that apply to every free and finite rational being.
Encyclopedia Entries
Questions of
Freedom and Subjectivity. Unlike Kant, Fichte does not treat political philosophy merely as a
subdivision of moral theory. On the contrary, it is an independent philosophical discipline with a
topic and a priori principles of its own. Whereas ethics analyzes the concept of what is demanded
of a freely willing subject, the theory of right describes what such a subject is permitted
to do (as well as what he can rightfully be coerced to do). Whereas ethics is concerned
with the inner world of conscience, the theory of right is concerned only with the external, public
realm, though only insofar as the latter can be viewed as an embodiment of freedom. (Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Reading
Writing available on the net
Also
Editions of Fichte's Complete Works in German
- Johann Gottlieb Fichtes nachgelassene Werke, 3 vols., ed. I. H. Fichte (Bonn:
Adolph-Marcus, 1834-35).
- Johann Gottlieb Fichtes sämmtliche Werke, 8 vols., ed. I. H. Fichte (Berlin: Veit,
1845-46). [Taken together, these 11 volumes, edited by Fichte's son, constituted the first
attempt at a complete edition of his works and are still widely cited and reprinted, most
recently by de Gruyter, under the title Fichtes Werke.]
- J. G. Fichte: Gesamtausgabe der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, ed. Reinhard
Lauth, Hans Jacobs, Hans Gliwitzky, and Erich Fuchs (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann, 1964 --)
32 vols to date. [Organized into four separate series -- writings published by Fichte,
unpublished writings, correspondence, and student lecture transcripts -- this monumental
critical edition, which should be complete by 2010, supersedes all earlier editions.]
- Versuch einer Kritik aller Offenbarung (1792; 2nd ed., 1793). Attempt at a
Critique of All Revelation, trans. Garrett Green (New York: Cambridge University Press,
1978).
- [Rezension:] Aenesidemus (1794). "Aenesidemus Review." In Fichte:
Early Philosophical Writings (henceforth = EPW), trans. and ed. Daniel Breazeale
(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988, 2nd ed., 1993).
- Ueber den Begriff der Wissenschaftslehre (1794, 2nd ed. 1798). Concerning the
Concept of the Wissenschaftslehre, trans. Breazeale, in EPW.
- Einige Vorlesungen über die Bestimmung des Gelehrten (1794). Some Lectures
Concerning the Scholar's Vocation, trans. Breazeale, in EPW.
- Grundlage der gesamten Wissenschaftslehre (1794/95; 2nd edn. 1802). Foundations
of the Entire Science of Knowledge, trans. Peter Heath. In Fichte: Science of Knowledge
(Wissenschaftslehre), ed. Peter Heath and John Lachs (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts,
1970; 2nd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
- Grundriß des Eigenthümlichen der Wissenschaftslehre in Rücksicht auf das theoretische
Vermögen (1795). Outline of the Distinctive Character of the Wissenschaftslehre with
respect to the Theoretical Faculty, trans. Breazeale, in EPW.
- Wissenschaftslehre nova methodo (student lecture transcripts, 1796 - 1799). Foundations
of Transcendental Philosophy (Wissenschaftslehre) nova methodo, trans. and ed. Daniel
Breazeale (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992).
- Grundlage des Naturrechts nach Principien der Wissenschaftslehre (1796/97). Foundations
of Natural Right, ed. Frederick Neuhouser, trans. Michael Baur (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2000).
- Versuch einer neuen Darstellung der Wissenschaftslehre ("Erste" und "Zweite
Einleitung," 1797; "Erste Capitel," 1798). Attempt at a New Presentation of
the Wissenschaftslehre. In Introductions to the Wissenschaftslehre and Other Writings
(1797 - 1800) [henceforth = IWL], ed. and trans. Daniel Breazeale (Indianapolis:
Hackett, 1994).
- Das System der Sittenlehre nach den Principien der Wissenschaftslehre (1798). The
System of Ethics in accordance with the Principles of the Wissenschaftslehre, ed. and
trans. Günter Zöller and Daniel Breazeale (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
forthcoming).
- Ueber den Grund unsers Glaubens an eine göttliche Weltregierung (1798). "On the
Basis of our Belief in a Divine Governance of the World," trans. Breazeale, in IWL.
- Aus einem Privatschreiben (1800). "From a Private Letter," trans. Breazeale,
in IWL.
- Die Bestimmung des Menschen (1800). The Vocation of Man, trans. Peter Preuss
(Indianapolis: Hackett, 1987).
- Sonnenklarer Bericht an das größere Publikum über das eigentliche Wesen der neuesten
Philosophie. Ein Versuch, die Leser zum Verstehen zu zwingen (1801). A Crystal Clear
Report to the General Public Concerning the Actual Essence of the Newest Philosophy: An Attempt
to Force the Reader to Understand, trans. John Botterman and William Rash, in Philosophy
of German Idealism, ed. Ernst Behler (New York: Continuum, 1987). [Unreliable translation.]
- Der Grundzüge des gegewärtigen Zeitalters (1806). The Characteristics of the
Present Age, in The Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte [henceforth = PWF],
trans. William Smith, ed. and with an introduction by Daniel Breazeale (Bristol, England:
Thoemes Press, 1999). [These translations were original published between 1848 and 1889.]
- Über des Wesen des Gelehrten, und seine Erscheinungen im Gebiete der Freiheit
(1806). On The Nature of the Scholar and Its Manifestations, trans. Smith, in PWF.
- Die Anweisung zum sieligen Leben, oder auch die Religionslehre (1806). The Way
Towards the Blessed Life; or, the Doctrine of Religion, trans. Smith, in PWF.
- Reden an die deutsche Nation (1808). Addresses to the German Nation, trans.
R. F. Jones and G. H. Turnbull, ed. George Armstrong Kelly (New York: Harper & Row, 1968).
- Die Wissenschaftslehre, in ihrem allgemeinen Umrisse dargestellt (1810). "The
Science of Knowledge in its General Outline," trans. Walter E. Wright, Idealistic
Studies 6 (1976) 106-117.
Commentaries
Quotations
"I cannot think of the present state of humanity as that in which it is destined to remain;
I am absolutely unable to conceive of this as its complete and final vocation....Only in so far as I
can regard this state as the means towards a better, as the transition-point to a higher and more
perfect state, has it any value in my eyes."
Johann Fichte [The Vocation of Man]