Erich Herbert Fuchs

In an analysis of Fichte’s theoretical reflections read in the light of decisive biographical events, the present paper examines the following question: to what extent are we to assent to Fichte’s own assertion that his system is from the very outset a system of freedom? Kant’s philosophy provided the catalyst for the young Fichte because it promised a way out of the impasse of determinism. I will argue that the ultimate goal of Fichte’s lifelong struggle was to furnish a foundation for genuine freedom. In reaction to both Jacobi and Schelling, Fichte’s philosophical and political investigations pursue at once the problem of grounding the “Absolute” and the relationship between individual freedom and reason as a whole.—These tensions are especially visible in Fichte’s path from the Addresses To the German Nation to the virtually unknown “Philosophical Diaries” of the final days of his life.

The basic problem of Fichte, both in his philosophy and in his life, is the problem of freedom. Kant’s criticism frees Fichte from the deterministic conceptions of his youth. The Doctrine of science is for Fichte the system of freedom. After the year 1800 the idea of freedom seems to have a less significant role in comparison to the doctrine of the absolute; but the subsequent Fichte’s reflections show that the problem of reconciling individual freedom with the ultimate aim of reason remains a central one. Fichte’s aim is to realize the freedom not only on a philosophical level but on the political one as well; yet he doesn’t find a solution that satisfies him under this respect