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Early Philosophical Writings
"This work is a model of what a philosophical text should be."―Reinhard Lauth "Breazeale's translation is fluent, precise, and perhaps most important of all... it is readable.... This is an excellent translation by the ranking Fichte scholar working in English at present, accompanied by a full, useful scholarly apparatus, likely to be of interest to Fichte scholars and all those concerned with the development of German idealism."―Review of Metaphysics "The publishing of this volume in English... provides us with a wealth of new material, not just about Fichte's development, but about the essentially Cartesian project that first gave rise to phenomenology in our own century."―International Philosophical Quarterly
469 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1993
About the author
Johann Gottlieb Fichte
737 books138 followersJohann Gottlieb Fichte was a German philosopher. He was one of the founding figures of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, a movement that developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kant. Fichte is often perceived as a figure whose philosophy forms a bridge between the ideas of Kant and the German Idealist Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Recently, philosophers and scholars have begun to appreciate Fichte as an important philosopher in his own right due to his original insights into the nature of self-consciousness or self-awareness. Like Descartes and Kant before him, the problem of subjectivity and consciousness motivated much of his philosophical rumination. Fichte also wrote political philosophy, and is thought of by some as the father of German nationalism.
His son, Immanuel Hermann Fichte, was also a renowned philosopher.
His son, Immanuel Hermann Fichte, was also a renowned philosopher.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 11, 2018
Fantastic translation and notes. I look forward to reading more of Breazeale's work when I come up to the Nova Methodo. Vocation of The Scholar was inspiring, and the Outline was so much clearer than the H/L Wissenschaftslehre translation. For anyone who wants to understand Fichte and does not speak German there is simply no way to do it without this book. Reading the Wissenschaftslehre alone will not aquaint you with the full worth of his system.
I will leave you with this amazing quote from Annals of Philosophical Tone,
"Anyone who does not agree with what I am going to say must either show that my reasons for defining philosophy in this way are insufficient, or, if he cannot do that, he must show that some of my specific deductions are incorrect. Or, if he can do neither of these things, he should just say nothing at all. But what do these persons do instead? When I tell them that I have here deduced a priori the necesity of assuming that there are other rational beings like ourselves, they reply: "Of course you have deduced a priori the necessity of assuming that there are other rational beings like ourselves. Just think of it! Ha ha ha!" I tell them that I have here given an a priori deduction of air and light. They answer me: "Air and light a priori, just think of it! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Come on, laugh along with us! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Air and light a priori: tarte à la crème, ha ha ha! Air and light a priori! Tarte à la crème, ha ha ha! Air and light a priori! Tarte à la crème! Ha ha ha!" et cetera ad infinitum.
Stunned, I look around me. Where did I lose my way? I thought that I had entered the republic of scholars. Have I fallen into a madhouse instead?"
I will leave you with this amazing quote from Annals of Philosophical Tone,
"Anyone who does not agree with what I am going to say must either show that my reasons for defining philosophy in this way are insufficient, or, if he cannot do that, he must show that some of my specific deductions are incorrect. Or, if he can do neither of these things, he should just say nothing at all. But what do these persons do instead? When I tell them that I have here deduced a priori the necesity of assuming that there are other rational beings like ourselves, they reply: "Of course you have deduced a priori the necessity of assuming that there are other rational beings like ourselves. Just think of it! Ha ha ha!" I tell them that I have here given an a priori deduction of air and light. They answer me: "Air and light a priori, just think of it! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Come on, laugh along with us! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Air and light a priori: tarte à la crème, ha ha ha! Air and light a priori! Tarte à la crème, ha ha ha! Air and light a priori! Tarte à la crème! Ha ha ha!" et cetera ad infinitum.
Stunned, I look around me. Where did I lose my way? I thought that I had entered the republic of scholars. Have I fallen into a madhouse instead?"
August 21, 2019
A very nice collection of early philosophical works, especially valuable for its fluid translation. Many works here are translated into English for the first time, and the editor includes a preface for each work, which is very helpful.
April 27, 2012
Particularly revealing pieces:
--Review of Aenesidemus (due to the overall importance of the piece in relation to Fichte's situating himself in relation to Reinhold and Kant).
--Concerning the Concept of the Wissenschaftslehre (extremely helpful look at his system--from a standpoint outside of the system--"critique")
--Some Lectures Concerning the Scholar's Vocation (just plain enjoyable)
--Outline of the Distinctive Character of the Wissenschaftslehre with Respect to the Theoretical Faculty (generally opaque but with very intriguing moments; though later understood, Fichte's deduction of space and time is wildly opaque)
--Correspondence (in terms of the Atheism Controversy and Fichte's rather "humorous" tendency to be extremely vitriolic--also noted in "Annals...", etc.)
--Review of Aenesidemus (due to the overall importance of the piece in relation to Fichte's situating himself in relation to Reinhold and Kant).
--Concerning the Concept of the Wissenschaftslehre (extremely helpful look at his system--from a standpoint outside of the system--"critique")
--Some Lectures Concerning the Scholar's Vocation (just plain enjoyable)
--Outline of the Distinctive Character of the Wissenschaftslehre with Respect to the Theoretical Faculty (generally opaque but with very intriguing moments; though later understood, Fichte's deduction of space and time is wildly opaque)
--Correspondence (in terms of the Atheism Controversy and Fichte's rather "humorous" tendency to be extremely vitriolic--also noted in "Annals...", etc.)
April 7, 2022
Highlight is certainly Fichte's response to Professor Schmid. Hottest attack in the game, Fichte utterly annihilated his opposition. Described as a golden retriever by some great thinkers, Fichte's commitment to the spirit of Kant's letter is the heart of a subjectivized and somewhat less idealistic, I have no idea, Fichtean science of knowledge.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews