Johann Gottlieb Fichte

Lore & Background

Fichte was born in Rammenau, Upper Lusatia, and baptized a Lutheran. The son of a ribbon weaver, he was born into a pious family. He received a rudimentary education from his father but showed remarkable ability from an early age. A local landowner, Freiherr von Miltitz, took him into his protection and paid for his tuition after Fichte was able to repeat a sermon almost verbatim. He was placed in the family of Pastor Krebel at Niederau near Meissen for a grounding in the classics, and in October 1774 attended the foundation-school at Pforta near Naumburg. In 1780, he began study at the University of Jena's Lutheran theology seminary, later transferring to Leipzig University, but had to end his studies without completing his degree due to lack of financial support. From 1784 to 1788, he supported himself as a tutor for various Saxon families, and later lived in Zürich from 1788 to 1790, where he met his future wife, Johanna Rahn, and Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. He became a member of the Freemasonry lodge 'Modestia cum Libertate' in 1793. In the summer of 1790, he began to study the works of Kant, which had a lasting effect on his life and thought.

Reader's Guide

Fichte's significance lies in his role as a founding figure of German idealism and his original contributions to the philosophy of self-consciousness. His essay 'Attempt at a Critique of All Revelation' (1792) was initially mistaken for a work by Kant, which skyrocketed Fichte's reputation. He taught at the University of Jena from 1794, expounding his system of transcendental idealism with immediate success. However, he was dismissed in 1799 for atheism after publishing an essay that conceived God primarily in moral terms. Forced to Berlin, he associated with prominent intellectuals and continued his literary activity. His political philosophy, including works such as 'The Closed Commercial State' (1800), and his reputation as a father of German nationalism, mark his legacy. The thesis–antithesis–synthesis model, often misattributed to Hegel, originates with Fichte.

Did You Know?

• Fichte was the originator of thesis–antithesis–synthesis, an idea often erroneously attributed to Hegel.
• His first major work, 'Attempt at a Critique of All Revelation', was initially believed by the public to be a new work by Kant.
• He was dismissed from the University of Jena in 1799 for atheism.
• Fichte became a member of the Freemasonry lodge 'Modestia cum Libertate' in 1793.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"The infinitely smallest part of space is always a space, something endowed with continuity, not at all a mere point or the boundary between specified places in space." — Johann Gottlieb Fichte "The System of Ethics According to the Principles of the Wissenschaftslehre (1798; Cambridge, 2005), p. 320." — Johann Gottlieb Fichte "Addresses to the German Nation (1807), Second Address : "The General Nature of the New Education". Chicago and London, The Open Court Publishing Company, 1922, p. 20." — Johann Gottlieb Fichte "If you want to influence him at all, you must do more than merely talk to him ; you must fashion him, and fashion him in such a way that he simply cannot will otherwise than you wish him to will." — Johann Gottlieb Fichte