Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre of 1794

Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre of 1794: A Commentary on Part 1

George J. Seidel
Series: History of Philosophy
Copyright Date: 1993
Published by: Purdue University Press
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wq3jm
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  • Book Info
    Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre of 1794
    Book Description:

    Seidel presents the eng and German text of part 1 of the Wissenscbaftsiebre, followed by a commentary on the text. The work concludes with a summary of parts 2 and 3 of the Wissenscbafislebre. An annotated bibliography surveys the important literature on the philosopher.

    eISBN: 978-1-61249-042-7
    Subjects: Philosophy

Table of Contents

  1. Front Matter
    (pp. i-iv)
  2. Table of Contents
    (pp. v-vi)
  3. PREFACE
    (pp. vii-viii)
  4. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
    (pp. ix-x)
  5. PART ONE Introduction
    (pp. 1-17)

    In 1798 in theAthenaeum, the literary organ of the early German romantics, Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829) published the following fragment: “The French Revolution, Fichte’sWissenschaftslehreand Goethe’sMeisterare the most important trend-setting events (Tendenzen) of the age.”¹

    One might wonder what a political event (the French Revolution of 1789), aBildungsroman(Goethe’s 1796 novelWilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre), and an abstruse philosophical work (Fichte’sWissenschaftslehreof 1794) might have in common. Goethe’sWilhelm Meister, which became the model for any number of romantic novels, is about the gradual education and development of a freewheeling hero in search of his...

  6. PART TWO Text and Commentary Part I Fundamental Principles of the Entire Science of Knowledge
    (pp. 18-101)

    I,91 Our task is todiscoverthe primordial, absolutely unconditioned first principle of all human knowledge. This can be neitherprovednordefined,if it is to be an absolutely primary principle.

    Wir haben den absolut-ersten, schlechthin unbedingten Grundsatz alles menschlichen Wissensaufzusuchen. Beweisen, oderbestimmenläßt er sich nicht, wenn er absolut-erster Grundsatz sein soll.

    In Fichte the necessity of searching for such a single, originary and absolutely unconditioned first principle was given impetus by Karl Leonhard Reinhold (1758–1823) (cf. Daniel Breazeale, “Between Kant and Fichte,” 785–821). Such an absolutely first principle can be neither proved nor...

  7. PART THREE Reflections on Parts 2 and 3 of the Wissenschaftslehre
    (pp. 102-118)

    At the very beginning of part 2 of theWissenschaftslehre, Fichte remarks that with the completion of part 1, and with it the establishment of the fundamental synthesis of self and non-self, the formal validity of his exercise in reflection is complete and the ground laid for the content (Gehalt) of every other possible synthesis. It may then be well to consider some of these implicit contents and examine how they are made explicit in the second and third parts of theWissenschaftslehre.

    In part 2, the theoretical part of theWissenschaftslehre, Fichte will consider the meaning and implications of...

  8. SELECT AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
    (pp. 119-124)
  9. INDEX
    (pp. 125-128)