Fichte: The Self and the Calling of Philosophy, 1762–1799

A biography of the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte from birth to his resignation from his university position at Jena in 1799 due to the Atheism Conflict, this work explains how Fichte contributed to modern conceptions of selfhood; how he sought to make the moral agency of the self efficacious in a modern public culture; and the critical role he assigned philosophy in the construal and assertion of selfhood and in the creation of a new public sphere. Using the writings and private papers now available in the Gesamtausgabe, the study historicizes these themes by tracing their development within several contexts, including the German Lutheran tradition, the eighteenth-century culture of sensibility, the Kantian philosophical revolution, the politics of the revolutionary era, and the emergence of modern German universities. It includes a reinterpretation of Fichte’s political theory and philosophy of law, his antisemitism, and his controversial views on gender and marriage.

• First full-scale biography of Fichte to make thorough use of the materials in the Complete Edition (Gesamtausgabe) of Fichte’s works • Places Fichte’s philosophy in the social, cultural, and political contexts of late eighteenth-century Germany • Explains relevance of Fichte’s life and philosophy to current debates on selfhood and identity and confronts Fichte’s antisemitism and gender-bias

Introduction; Part I. The Wanderjahre: 1. Alienation; 2. The road to Kant; 3. The German machine; 4. Revolution: the popular tribune; 5. Jews, Christians, and freethinkers; 6. Love and marriage; Part II. The Jena Years: 7. The self and the mission of philosophy; 8. The politics of celebrity; 9. Philosophy and the graces; 10. Law, freedom, and authority; 11. Men and women; 12. The atheism conflict: reason and the absolute; 13. The atheism conflict: selfhood, character, and the public; Conclusion.