A founding figure of German idealism, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) developed a radically new version of transcendental idealism. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Fichte follows his intellectual life and presents a comprehensive overview of Fichte's dynamic philosophy, from his engagement with Kant to his rigorously systematic and nuanced Wissenschaftslehre and beyond. Covering a variety of topics and issues in epistemology, ontology, moral and political philosophy, as well as philosophy of right and philosophy of religion, an international team of experts on Fichte explores his important contributions to philosophy. Arranged chronologically, their chapters map Fichte's intellectual and philosophical development and the progression of his thought, identifying what motivated his philosophical inquiry and revealing why his ideas continue to shape discussions today. Alongside wide-ranging chapters advancing new insights into Fichte, there are topical discussions of conceptions and issues central to his philosophy. Featuring a chronology of Fichte's life, as well as a timeline of his publications and lectures, this is an invaluable research resource for all Fichte scholars and a reliable guide for anyone undertaking a study of Fichte and German idealism.

A founding figure of German idealism, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) developed a radically new version of transcendental idealism. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Fichte follows his intellectual life and presents a comprehensive overview of Fichte's dynamic philosophy, from his engagement with Kant to his rigorously systematic and nuanced Wissenschaftslehre and beyond. Covering a variety of topics and issues in epistemology, ontology, moral and political philosophy, as well as philosophy of right and philosophy of religion, an international team of experts on Fichte explores his important contributions to philosophy. Arranged chronologically, their chapters map Fichte's intellectual and philosophical development and the progression of his thought, identifying what motivated his philosophical inquiry and revealing why his ideas continue to shape discussions today. Alongside wide-ranging chapters advancing new insights into Fichte, there are topical discussions of conceptions and issues central to his philosophy. Featuring a chronology of Fichte's life, as well as a timeline of his publications and lectures, this is an invaluable research resource for all Fichte scholars and a reliable guide for anyone undertaking a study of Fichte and German idealism.

The Wissenschaftslehre or "doctrine of science" was the great achievement of the German idealist philosopher J. G. Fichte. Daniel Breazeale presents accessible new translations of three works in which Fichte developed this philosophical system. The centerpiece of this volume is a new English translation of Fichte's only full-scale presentation of the principles of his philosophy, the Foundation of the Entire Wissenschaftslehre (1794/95). Accompanying this are new translations of the work in which Fichte first publicly introduced his new system, Concerning the Concept of the Wissenschaftslehre (1794) and the Outline of what is Distinctive of the Wissenschaftslehre with respect to the Theoretical Power (1795), which was intended as a companion to the Foundation. In addition Breazeale includes the transcripts of Fichte's unpublished "Zurich lectures" on his system (1794), translated here for the first time in English. Breazeale supplements his translations with an extensive historical and systematic introduction, detailed outlines of the contents and structure of the Foundation and Outline, and copious scholarly annotation of the translated texts, helping to orient readers who may otherwise find themselves lost in the wilderness of Fichte's complex "derivations."

This Handbook explores the complex relations between two great schools of continental philosophy: German idealism and existentialism. While the existentialists are commonly thought to have rejected idealism as overly abstract and neglectful of the concrete experience of the individual, the chapters in this collection reveal that the German idealists in fact anticipated many key existentialist ideas. A radically new vision of the history of continental philosophy is thereby established, one that understands existentialism as a continuous development from German idealism. Key Features Operates at both the macro-level and micro-level, treating both the two schools of thought and the individual thinkers associated with them Explores the relations from shifting perspectives by examining how the German idealists anticipated existentialist themes and how the existentialists concretely drew on the work of the idealists Meticulously uncovers and documents many little-known points of contact between the German idealists and the existentialists Includes often neglected figures such as Jacobi and Trendelenburg This Handbook is an essential resource for researchers and advanced students interested in thinking critically about the broad development of continental philosophy. Moreover, the individual chapters on specific philosophers contain a wealth of information that will compel experts in the field to reconsider their views on these figures.

This book investigates various aspects of freedom as developed in the philosophical systems of Kant and Fichte. Freedom, both Kant and Fichte insist, does not mean that we can choose or think independently from all rules or necessity, but rather that we willingly accept a certain kind of submission under these rules. Therefore, the conditions of our knowledge affect and inform our self-understanding, our willing, and the ways we justify our practical choices. The essays in this volume explore both philosophers’ conceptions of human freedom as they relate to art, history, politics, and religion. They reveal how integrating freedom into a system of thought is crucial for our understanding of modern philosophy. System and Freedom in Kant and Fichte will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working on Kant, modern philosophy, and German Studies.

Fichte's 1804 Wissenschaftslehre, or The Science of Knowing, consists of a series of lectures he delivered in his Berlin home to members of the city's political and cultural elite in 1804. The lectures mark a dramatic shift in the terminology and methodology he uses to explore the nature of knowledge and reality as presented in his philosophical system, the Wissenschaftslehre. Although not published during his lifetime, Fichte's 1804 lectures provide a systematic update to his philosophy of knowledge and being, which was only hinted at in print in popular presentations like Characteristics of the Present Age (1805) and The Way Towards the Blessed Life (1806). In fact, these lectures contain Fichte's first public articulation of his philosophical position in the wake of the professional disaster of the "atheism controversy." This volume of new essays not only offers readers novel interpretations of the lectures but also introduces and clarifies key concepts, debates the relationship of the lectures to Fichte’s Jena presentation of the Wissenschaftslehre, and examines issues related to his method and system of idealism.

The essays in this volume present the first comprehensive account of Fichte's reception and influence in America, highlighting philosophical issues central to thinkers in the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.

When the celebrated German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte lost his position at the University of Jena and moved to Berlin, it looked as if his career was over. In 1799 Berlin had no university, and Fichte was consigned to lecturing in his home. In Fichte in Berlin Matthew Nini breaks with scholarly consensus, arguing it was there that Fichte finally reached maturity, and the only way to understand Fichte’s mature philosophy is to perform it for oneself. The book focuses on the philosopher’s 1804 lectures on the Wissenschaftslehre – an untranslatable neologism for his theories on the pursuit of insight – claiming that they are one of the most exemplary versions of the philosophical project that Fichte reconfigured some seventeen times throughout his life. While the 1804 lectures offer a more robust approach, they remain faithful to the insight at the heart of the original philosophy. Fichte’s work always emphasized the practical over the theoretical, and his 1804 work goes even further: to think with Fichte is to bring one’s own philosophy to life. Nini guides the reader step by step through the complex arguments Fichte made in 1804 and goes on to examine some of his other works produced in their wake, arguing that Fichte’s output from 1804 to 1806, his first Berlin period, forms an organic whole. Fichte in Berlin is not only an introduction to Fichte’s later philosophy, but also an original philosophical work that makes a unique contribution to the study of German Idealism.

G.W.F. Hegel is without doubt one of the most important and influential thinkers in the whole history of philosophy. Covering all the key concepts of his work, Starting with Hegel provides an accessible introduction to this significant thinker. Thematically structured, the book leads the reader through a thorough overview of the development of Hegel's thought. Craig B. Matarrese shows how the questions that guided his early writings in fact shaped his entire career and thereby offers a more thorough understanding of the roots of his philosophical concerns. Providing coverage of the full range of Hegel's ideas, the book offers detailed examinations of all his key texts, including The Phenomenology of Spirit and The Philosophy of Right. Crucially the book introduces the major thinkers and events that proved influential in the development of Hegel's thought, including Kant, Schiller, Fichte, Schelling, the French Revolution, the Enlightenment, and romanticism.

This book, first published in 2001, is a biographical study of the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte.