1. First Lecture: Introduction to Fichte
In this first lecture, we establish the context and discuss Fichte in relation to other Idealists, particularly Kant. We explore the concept of self-positing as an ongoing process, a key idea developed by Fichte. We also examine the process where act and fact are unified (Tat-Handlung). Additionally, we highlight that Fichte originated the concept of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, which was later greatly popularized by others, such as Hegel. Engaging with this lecture and keeping up with its flow requires at least a basic understanding of German Romanticism and existentialism.
Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814) developed a version of transcendental idealism called the "Doctrine of Scientific Knowledge." Fichte's system was grounded in subjectivity and the concept of the "pure I." At the University of Jena, he constructed an elaborate transcendental system encompassing the philosophy of science, ethics, philosophy of law, and philosophy of religion.
Fichte emphasized the subjective aspect of Kant's philosophy, highlighting the active role of the mind in constructing the world. According to him, the ego (the self) is the ultimate source of all experience and reality, with all knowledge arising from this activity.
He expanded upon Kant's concept of the "transcendental unity of apperception," which refers to the unity of experience and the mind's role in organizing and giving meaning to it as a means of achieving self-consciousness. For Fichte, this unity was not merely an intellectual construct but was rooted in the self-positing activity of the ego.
He advanced Kant's claim that finite rational beings are to be understood in both theoretical and practical terms, coining the concept of "I-moving-to-itself." Fichte argued that the self could never fully know its limits and that self-positing is an ongoing process, continually generating new experiences and realities. This self-positing activity, he maintained, drives all human pursuits, including knowledge, morality, and cultural development.
In essence, Fichte built upon Kant's philosophy, emphasizing the ego's role in shaping the world and viewing the processes of self-discovery and self-realization as the foundation of all human activity.
Fichte’s Idealistic Approach and the Subject as Act
In the creation of his project Wissenschaftslehre, Fichte proposed a system where self-consciousness as "Freedom" (opposed to thinghood as "necessity") emerges at the moment the Ego (or "I"; he disliked the term "self") posits itself against itself. In this context, "positing" refers to becoming aware of or conscious of something, while "self-positing" signifies the act of becoming aware of oneself or establishing one’s consciousness.
This concept entails two key points. First, there is no "I" before the act of positing. Second, the Ego (or "I") is not the product of an act of creation but rather a continuous process, an activity that intrinsically connects subject and object. Fichte referred to this foundational "fact/act," where existence and action are unified, as Tat-Handlung (action-deed).
Regarding the Ego emerging through positing, Fichte explains:
"The question has been asked, What was I before I became self-conscious? The answer is, I was not at all, for I was not I. The Ego is only, in so far as it is conscious of itself."
On the Ego as an activity, he states:
"In and through the Ego, both the Ego and the Non-Ego are posited as each limitable through the other; that is, the reality of the one canceling that of the other, and vice versa."
Further, he adds:
"As soon as it posits itself, it is; and as soon as it is, it posits itself; and hence the Ego is for the Ego absolute and necessary."
Fichte also emphasizes the interplay between the Ego and the Non-Ego:
"In so far as the Non-Ego is posited, the Ego is not posited."
Fichte was the originator of the concepts of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, employing them in his system (Wissenschaftslehre). In this framework, the Ego positing itself constitutes the thesis, the Non-Ego serves as the antithesis, and the Absolute Ego (as a transcendental overarching concept) represents the synthesis. This dialectical process allows the Ego to operate independently, constructing a self-contained universe. In this sense, the Ego acts as a self-sustaining entity, continually generating self-consciousness through the act of positing. The process simultaneously encompasses all aspects of the dialectic.
Fichte explains this dynamic as follows:
"But in form, again, the antithesis is not possible without synthesis, for otherwise the antithesis would cancel the posited of the thesis, and would thus be no antithesis, but would be itself a thesis. All the three acts are only one and the same act, and are distinguished only in reflection as moments of one act."
This unified act implies that everything occurs simultaneously. The "Absolute I" leads to the creation of the "Not-I," which, in turn, makes possible the positing of a determined "I" as the "Intellectual I." By contrasting the finite "I" (the Intellectual I) with the "Absolute I," the "Practical I" (our moral self) emerges. This framework resolves the question of the source of morality, providing a basis through which actions enable individuals to determine their lives and fulfill their duties to themselves and others.
