Foundations of Natural Right

by Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Michael Baur (Translator), Frederick Neuhouser (Editor)

Fichte's thought marks a crucial transitional stage between Kant and post-Kantian philosophy. Foundations of Natural Right, thought by many to be Fichte's most important work of political philosophy, applies his ideas to fundamental issues in political and legal philosophy, covering such topics as civic freedom, right, private property, contracts, family relations, and the foundations of modern political organization. This volume offers the first complete translation of the work into English, by Michael Baur, together with an introduction by Frederick Neuhouser that sets it in its philosophical and historical context.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Germany, Politics, History, Political Science, Theory

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1797

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

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jag älskar fortfarande inte Fichte, men denna bok var befriande fri från argumentationshopp. Min bild är fortfarande att Fichtes utgångspunkt är extremt märklig, men accepteras den så är det möjligt att följa resten. Resultatet av Fichtes försök att förklara de politiska konsekvenserna av sin filosofi blir en oerhört auktoritär form av liberalism, som i den tredje avdelningen, statsrätten, är ganska motbjudande.

[Leo46 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is a strange book for Fichte. Not completely irrelevant, but he should just stick with consciousness, as should all the other German Idealists, too. This political philosophy barely transcends that of Hobbes or Locke, and doesn't even touch that of Rousseau's. His grounding of original right in the 'freedom' from the intellectual intuition of consciousness feels fallacious, especially since the side of heteronomy is forgotten in this exposition. There is also unfreedom (determining factors) that influences one's freedom that is not just from other humans or 'freedoms.' Besides this, the contextualization/argument reconstruction he makes of his overall project at the beginning of the book is one of his best, truly showing the break from Kant that necessarily led to Hegel. Fichte's dialectical method and idealism as activity are profoundly influential on both Hegelianism and Marxism, and it is a shame he is not read as much as others.

[Juan José · Rating 5 out of 5]

el mejor idealista aleman

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

why must we have 18th century german philosophy? can we not just have peace?