The Vocation of the Scholar

by Johann Gottlieb Fichte, William Smith (Translator)

In these Lectures, delivered at Jena in 1794, Fichte sets forth, with that energy of thought and fervency of style which are his peculiar characteristics, the Vocation of Man as an Individual, and as a Member of Society; the sources of the different Classes into which Society is divided, and the duties arising from these distinctions; and lastly, the Vocation of that particular Class whose separate calling has its origin in the common desire of man to know, and who have chosen the acquisition and imparting of knowledge as their share in the general labours of the race;—assigning the duties of the Scholar, as the Teacher and Guide of Mankind, the highest place among the varied forms of human activity; and to the Scholar himself, in so far as he worthily fulfils these duties, the most honourable place in human society. The fundamental principle of this doctrine, which places the true Vocation of Man in the continual advancement of culture, is illustrated by contrast in an examination of Rousseau's celebrated paradox concerning the influence of Art and Science on the well-being of Man and is distinguished by the same high moral tone, and manly, vigorous expression which characterize all Fichte's works in the German, and is nothing lost in Mr. Smith's clear, unembarrassed, and thoroughly English translation."

This excellent translation of one of the best of Fichte's works is presented in a very I neat form. . . No class needs an earnest and sincere spirit more than the literary and therefore the ' Vocation of the Scholar,' was written in Fichte's most earnest, most commanding temper, will be welcomed in its English dress all readers, and be beneficial to the cause of truth."

Genres: Philosophy, Germany, Nonfiction

118 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1988

About the author

Johann Gottlieb Fichte was a German philosopher. He was one of the founding figures of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, a movement that developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kant. Fichte is often perceived as a figure whose philosophy forms a bridge between the ideas of Kant and the German Idealist Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Recently, philosophers and scholars have begun to appreciate Fichte as an important philosopher in his own right due to his original insights into the nature of self-consciousness or self-awareness. Like Descartes and Kant before him, the problem of subjectivity and consciousness motivated much of his philosophical rumination. Fichte also wrote political philosophy, and is thought of by some as the father of German nationalism.
His son, Immanuel Hermann Fichte, was also a renowned philosopher.

Reviews

[Griffin Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of transcribed lectures given by the famous German Idealist JG Fichte. The lectures go over the vocation of man as an individual (a summary from his book on it), the vocation of man in society, the distinction of classes in society, the vocation of the scholar, and the response to Rousseau's desire to go back to the "State of Nature." Below I will elaborate some on these
I. Vocation of Man
According to Fichte, the absolute end of man is to become perfect; as a rational creature, man has the power to conceive of morality -- an ultimate good and an ultimate bad -- and his job is to attain those ideals that he creates. However, this end is impossible because if man could become perfect he would be God. Therefore, man's vocation is to strive for this end for the entirety of his life.
II. In Society
If he looks around, man may notice that he his surrounded by many other rational creatures like himself (or at least representations of them). He may assume that they have similar goals to his (absolute heaven on earth); in light of this, man should not only strive for his own moral perfection, but also the perfection of all other rational creatures and eventually of society as a whole.
III. Classes
Fichte does not actually elaborate much on the various classes here.But he does consider such questions as: if I have a vast amount of material wealth why would I concern myself for future humans? Or for the poor? What is wrong with just enjoying my life? He says that youTo this he says:
"My existence is not in vain and aimless; I am a necessary link in the great chain of being which reaches from the awakening of the first man to perfect consciousness of his existence, onward through eternity; all the great and wise and noble that have ever appeared among men, those benefactors of the human race whose names I find recorded in the world's history, and the many others whose benefits have outlived their names, all have labored for me; i have entered into their labors; I follow their footsteps on this earth where they dwelt, where they scattered blessings as they went along. I may, as soon as I will, assume the sublime task which they have resigned, of making our common brotherhood ever wiser and happier; I may continue to build where they had to cease their labours; I may bring nearer to its completion the glorious temple which they had to leave unfinished."
Basically, all of history has lead up to this point; millions have toiled for your sake without even knowing it, so you should feel an obligation to toil for the future generations. He does, however, make some disparaging remarks on nature, and considers nature to be the thing that is holding us back -- a point which I disagree with. According to him nature must be subjected so that we may thrive; we have been subjecting nature for a long time now. Unfortunately we have just begun to realize that we are a part of nature, and in subjecting nature we have only subjected ourselves; in making machines to rule over nature we have only made ourselves (or others have made machines of us) machines (in many cases).
IV. The Scholar
The vocation of the scholar is to use philosophy, science, and the knowledge of history to determine the needs of men and the means in which to satisfy them. I would consider this section to be of highest importance historically. The philosophy of history budded for a time under the Greeks, but, in many ways, it was erased under the Romans and in Christendom and not "rediscovered" until the time of german idealism. Fichte was perhaps the one to reintroduce this notion of a philosophy of history; this was then greatly expanded upon by Hegel and many others to this very day. How should we interpret history accurately and how is knowledge of it useful for us today?
V. Against Rousseau
A short rebuttal of Rousseau's idea that man would be better in the "state of nature," where he had no (or less) desires of material and sensuous things. For Rousseau, the Scholar was the problem in many ways, so Fichte addresses this.

[Leandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Agir! Agir! É para isso que cá estamos."

"Posso, logo que quiser, abraçar a sublime tarefa que tomaram a seu cargo: tornar cada vez mais sábia e feliz a nossa comum raça de irmãos; posso aproximar do seu termo o templo sagrado que tiveram de deixar inacabado."

"Ao empreender esta grande tarefa obtive ao mesmo tempo para mim a eternidade. Levanto ousadamente a minha cabeça para os cumes ameaçadores, para as tempestades devastadoras, para as nuvens que trovejam e vogam num mar de fogo, e digo, sou eterno, e desafio o vosso poder! Derrubai tudo sobre mim, e tu, Terra, e tu, Céu, misturai-vos num tumulto selvagem, e vós elementos todos, espumai, devastai e triturai num combate selvagem a última partícula do corpo que digo meu; sozinha a minha vontade, com o seu plano determinado, flutuará ousada e fria, sobre as ruínas do universo..."

[Upoptos · Rating 4 out of 5]

No wonder Bakunin got influenced so much by German Idealism.

[Michael Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very nice read. The concept of the perfection of man is reminiscent of the idea of the Sufi concept of Ihsan which is the perfection of worship, it is not exactly the the same but similar. There is also a similarity between perfection of man as a concept with that of Theosis in Orthodox Christianity, whereby the individual becomes more and more like Christ. I'm not sure the extent Christianity in general has had an influence on this work, but there is a definitely a yearning to become perfect and Godlike. Fichte also talks a lot about harmony and in that idea it brings to mind the Chinese philosophical concept of The Tao, as expounded by Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching. The harmony of nature is also a common theme in Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. The notion of the Pure Ego, is similar to the notion of Atman in Hinduism, I'm not sure if he had read the Upanishads, but I know Schopenhauer did and Max Muller was a translator of the asian texts. The striving of the scholar to help man achieve his perfection reminds me of the Varna system in Hinduism, of the Brahmin being at the top of the hierarchy, or of Plato's philosopher King, of the notion in Judaism that they will shine a lot onto the world. This is a very optimistic philosophy and indeed it brings to mind much of the ideas of perfect forms of Platonism. The text is very wholesome, it doesn't necessarily address negative things until the end with its critique of Rousseau who I have yet to delve into. It is somewhat surprising to see such a anarchic, proto-democratic, and mystical thinker such as Fichte, as I thought this was only present in Platonic thought and in Vedanta and Sufism. But no, there is the concept of Divine Reason in Fichte's philosopy, very much akin to Aristotle's De Anima and Plotinus' The One.

[Timothy Morrison]

Knowledge is itself a branch of human culture; that branch must itself be further advanced if all the faculties of man are to be continuously developed; hence it is the duty of the Scholar, as of every man who has chosen a particular condition of life, to strive for the advancement of knowledge, and chiefly of his own peculiar department of knowledge; it is his duty as it is the duty of every man in his own department; yes, and it is much more his duty. It is for him to watch over and promote the advancement of other departments; and shall he himself not advance? Upon his progress, the progress of all other departments of human culture is dependent: he should always be in advance to open the way for others, to explore their future path, and to lead them forward upon it; and shall he remain behind? From that moment he would cease to be what he ought to be; and being nothing else, would then be nothing. I do not say that every Scholar must actually extend the domain of knowledge, that may not be within his power: but I do say that he must strive to extend it; that he must not rest, that he must not think his duty sufficiently performed, until he have extended it. So long as he lives he may yet accomplish this. Does death overtake him before he has attained his purpose? then he is released from his duties in this world of appearances, and his earnest endeavour will be accounted to him for the deed. If the following maxim be applicable to all men, it is more especially applicable to the Scholar: that he forget what he has done as soon as it is accomplished, and constantly direct his whole thoughts upon what he has yet to do. He has advanced but little way indeed, whose field of exertion does not extend its boundaries at every step he takes in it.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Popular German Idealism following Kant. This concept of the vocation of the man and of the scholar is something quite alien to us these days - as we no longer believe that God assigned a role in society for us; not to mention the belief in God or more precisely in the Godhead as independent of Christianity. I really enjoyed the last chapter where Rousseau is attacked and dismissed.

[Ramanqu]

A half mystical, half philosophical inquiry into the rule of scholars in human societies.
The final contention is that they drive humanity forward to its final and perfect state.

[Mauricio Maluff Masi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta traducción es fantástica, un lujo tener una tan buena en castellano.

[Drew Witte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legit just had me going like this every other page https://youtu.be/FvB3GczWyVY?feature=...

[Christine Cordula Dantas · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Edição em Português) Belíssimo livro de um dos pais do idealismo alemão. Fichte discorre de forma brilhante sobre o Destino do Erudito. Recomendo fortemente.