Johann Gottlieb Fichte
Complete Edition of the Bavarian Academy of the Sciences
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth, Hans Gliwitzky † and Erich Fuchs. 1962ff. ca. 40 large octavo volumes. When purchased as part of the Complete Edition, each volume is ca. € ca. 229,-/sFr 399,-. Purchased separately, individual volumes are ca. € 268,-/ sFr 467,-
ISBN - 0138 2.
Organization of the Edition:
Part I: Published Works
Part II: Unpublished Writings
Part III: Correspondence
Part IV: Lecture Transcripts
"Because of their scientific value, their critical precision and completeness, because of the carefulness, the professional skill, and the intellectual integrity with which they have been edited and produced, and because of the clear and elegant manner in which the texts are presented: for all of these reasons, these volumes are the very model of a scholarly edition."
Martial Gueroult, Collège de France
Part I: Published Works
Vol. 1: Works 1791-94
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Jacob, with the assistance of Manfred Zahn and Richard Schottky. 1964. XX, 478 pp.
ISBN - 0139 0. Available.
The introduction to this volume provides general information concerning the editorial principles of this Complete Edition. It also contains a list of all of Fichte's publications. It includes the text of the "Versuch einer Critik aller Offenbarung" (1792, 2nd ed, 1793), which may be considered the first and most complete presentation of a Critical philosophy of religion, as well as the anonymously published polemical writings, "Zurückforderung der Denkfreiheit" and "Beiträg zur Berichtigung der Urtheile des Publikums über die französische Revolution," in which Fichte presented himself as a spokesperson for the principles of the French Revolution.
Vol. 2: Works 1793-1794
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Jacob, with the assistance of Manfred Zahn. 1965. 481 pp.
ISBN - 0140 4. Available.
This volume includes the complete text of "Grundlage der gesamten Wissenschaftslehre" of 1794/95, based upon all three of the editions published during Fichte's lifetime and exhaustively noting all the differences between these three versions. The "Grundlage der gesamten Wissenschaftslehre" is one of the most important works of world philosophy and is indispensable for work in the general theory of science. The fundamental concept of this work influenced the scientific theories of Hegel, Schelling, and everyone whose work is based upon theirs. The reviews of works by Creuzer, Gebhard, and, above all, Aenesidemus point the way toward the Wissenschaftslehre. "Ueber den Begriff der "Wissenschaftslehre" includes a discussion of the purely formal aspects of and criteria for the Wissenschaftslehre.
Vol. 3: Works 1794-1796
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Jacob, with the assistance of Richard Schottky. 1966. VI,485 pp.
ISBN - 0141 2. Available.
The "Vorlesungen über die Bestimmung des Gelehrten," which appear here, specify the standpoint of the scientific enterprise with respect to society. "Von der Sprachfähigkeit und dem Ursprung der Sprache" contains Fichte's philosophy of language. The "Grundriß des Eigenthümlichen der Wissenschaftslehre" is particularly important for the transcendental theory of space and time. The review of Kant's "Zum ewigen Frieden" and Part One of the "Grundlage des Naturrechts" are the classical texts for Fichte's social and political theory.
Vol. 4: Works 1797-1798
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Richard Schottky. 1970. VI,517 pp.
ISBN - 0142 0. Available.
In addition to Part Two of the "Grundlage des Naturrechts," this volume also contains essays from the "Philosophisches Journal einer Gesellschaft Teutscher Gelehrten," which mark the beginning of the polemical discussions and controversies concerning the meaning and the lasting significance of the Wissenschaftslehre. Fichte here engages in controversy with Kant, Schelling, Aenesidemus-Schulze, and Forberg. Acquaintance with these controversies is vital for understanding discussions of the Wissenschaftslehre.
Vol. 5: Works 1798-1799
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Hans Michael Baumgartner, Erich Fuchs, Kurt Hiller, and Peter K. Schneider. 1977. VIII,482 pp.
ISBN - 0143 9. Available.
This volume begins with the classical text for Fichte's ethics, "Das System der Sittenlehre," which also contains important principles of the Wissenschaftslehre not included in the "Grundlage." The writings concerning the "atheism controversy," "Ueber den Grund unseres Glaubens an eine göttliche Weltregierung" and "Appellation an das Publikum," show Fichte hotly engaged in polemical controversy with Protestant philosophy of religion. He presents himself in these works as a defender of rational theology (in the transcendental sense).
Vol. 6: Works 1799-1801
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs, Kurt Hiller, and Peter K. Schneider. 1981. IX,495 pp.
ISBN - 0781 X. Available.
This volume presents the conclusion of the so-called atheism controversy and includes, in addition to Fichte's detailed "Verantwortungschrift," Niethammer's "Rechtfertigung" and other appended documents relevant to this controversy. -- In the "Bestimmung des Menschen" Fichte simultaneously attempts to make the principles of his scientific philosophy accessible to a broader public in a popular manner and also energetically emphasizes the practical aspects of his Wissenschaftslehre. -- This volume concludes with Fichte's aesthetic treatise, "Über Geist und Buchstabe in der Philosophie," which occasioned a disagreement with Schiller, and with some short texts from the "Philosophisches Journal".
Vol. 7: Works 1800-1801
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs and Peter K. Schneider. 1988. XI,518. pp.
ISBN - 1178 7. Available.
In additional to various minor texts, including some literary ones, this volume mainly consists of works dealing with the three different themes: In the "Geschloßnen Handelsstaat" Fichte constructs a socio-economic model of a human community organized according to the principles of the Wissenschaftslehre; the "Sonnenklare Bericht" is an attempt to make the Wissenschaftslehre popularly accessible, whereas the "Antwortschreiben an Reinhold" is a contribution to a strictly professional debate; finally, in "Friedrich Nicolai's Leben und sonderbare Meinungen," Fichte makes a polemical "contribution to the literary history of the preceding century and to the pedagogy of the coming one."
Vol. 8: Works 1801-1806
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Josef Beeler, Erich Fuchs, Ives Radrizzani, and Peter K. Schneider. 1991. X,493 pp.
ISBN - 1349 6. Available.
In addition to some of Fichte's most successful poems (from the "Musenalmanachen" of 1801/02 and 1805), a public declaration against the publisher Gabler concerning the controversy over the second edition of the "Grundlage der gesammten Wissenschaftslehre" (1802), and announcements of lectures that appeared in Berlin newspapers (1804-06), this volume also contains "Ueber das Wesen des Gelehrten und seine Erscheinungen im Gebiete der Freiheit" (published in 1806), a text intended as a propaedeutic general introduction to all of the writings Fichte prepared in conjunction with his activities as a teacher in Erlangen (May-September 1805). (The latter texts are published in Series II, Volume 9.) -- But the major work contained in this volume is "Die Grundzüge des gegenwärtigen Zeitalters," which represents Fichte's first foray into the philosophy of history, which he worked on intensively in the years 1804-1808. This text is the published version of the public lectures he held in Berlin in the winter semester of 1804/05 and which he described as a "philosophical characterization of the age."
The appendix (which follows the text published in 1802 in "Eleusinien des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts) contains "Philosophie der Mauererei. Briefe an Konstant," which is based upon Fichte's lectures to the Berlin Lodge in October 1799 and April/May 1800. In this text Fichte articulates his own view of what Freemasonry should be.
Vol. 9: Works 1806-1807
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Josef Beeler, Erich Fuchs, Ives Radrizzani, Marco Ivaldo, and Peter K. Schneider, and Anna-Martia Schurr-Lorusso. 1996. X, 326 pp.
ISBN - 1654 1. Available.
The principle work contained in this, the penultimate volume of Part One, is the "Anweisung zum seelingen Leben," a work in which Fichte takes a daring step and becomes the first important philosopher since Hermann Samuel Reimarus to investigate religion and the thought of the incarnation of the absolute from the standpoint of philosophical principles. In doing this, he arrives at a very different conclusion from that arrived at by, e.g., Franz Volkmar Reinhard or, subsequently, Hegel. He here stakes out a polemical position in opposition to the conceptions of Jesus presented by Schleiermacher, Jacobi, and Schelling. These contemporary references, as well as the manner in which they were reflected in the contemporary reception of Fichte's work, are explicated in detail in the forward to this volume. This volume also includes Fichte's treatise on Machiavelli (1807), as well as a translation of his from Dante.
Vol. 10: Works 1808–1812
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth, Erich Fuchs, Hans Georg von Manz, Ives Radrizzani, Peter K. Schneider, Martin Siegel and Günter Zöller, with the assistance of Josef Beeler-Port. 2005. XVI, 476 pp.
ISBN – 2170 7. Available.
The centerpiece of this volume is Fichte's well-known text "Reden an die deutsche Nation", consisting of
public lectures delivered in Berlin in 1807/8 and published in 1808. These lectures, together with the
two preceding lecture series from 1806, "Grundzüge des gegenwärtigen Zeitalters" and "Anweisung
zum seeligen Leben", constitute a trilogy signalling a new interest on Fichte's part in the philosophy of
history. Following in the steps of Pestalozzi, Fichte here appeals for an intellectual reformation of the
German people and outlines how this can be accomplished by means of new educational reforms and
institutions. The "Reden" are also clearly inspired by Fichte's fervent desire to participate as
directly as possible in shaping the course of the political events of his own time. For Fichte, there was
a direct connection between the impeding intellectual decline of Germany and its loss of political autonomy
under Napoleonic domination. Under these circumstances, he felt that it was his right and duty to take
some public action.
This volume also includes Fichte’s adaptations of short pieces by Petrarch and Luis Vaz de Camões, the
revised final lecture from his 1810 lectures on the Wissenschaftslehre, entitled "Die Wissenschaftslehre in
ihrem allgemeinen Umrisse", and a published address that he delivered in 1811, when he assumed his duties
as rector of the newly founded University of Berlin, "Ueber die einzig mögliche Störung der
akademischen Freiheit". Also included are two published lectures from the series entitled "Vorlesungen
über die Bestimmung des Gelehrten", which Fichte delivered during the Summer Semester of 1812, as
well as 14 brief book reviews from 1788, which represent Fichte's very first publications (and which
were identified as such only after the publication of the first volume in this series).
Part II: Unpublished Writings
Vol. 1: Unpublished Writings 1780-1791
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Jacob, with the assistance of Manfred Zahn. 1962. XVI,492 pp.
ISBN - 0144 7. Available.
The introduction to this volume provides information concerning the principles of this edition of the unpublished writings. This volume includes all of Fichte's pre-Critical youthful writings, his graduation speech, his sermons and theological writings, including a treatise "Ueber die Absichten des Todes Jesu," in which he contrasts his own positions with that of Reimarus. Also included are his diaries on education, his literary-critical efforts, his efforts to explain Kant's Critiques, and his diary of a journey from Saxony to East Prussia, by way of Poland.
Vol. 2: Unpublished Writings 1791-1793
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Jacob, with the assistance of Hans Gliwitzky and Manfred Zahn. 1968. VII,366 pp.
ISBN - 0145 5. Available.
This volume includes the first manuscript version of "Versuch einer Critik aller Offenbarung," as well as "Religionsphilosophische Reflexionen" and additional sermons. It also includes the draft version of "Zurückforderung der Denkfreiheit," which goes well beyond the published version and which is of decisive importance for Fichte's social theory and theory of interpersonality. The drafts of the Gebhard and Aenesidemus reviews shed light on the genesis of the Wissenschaftslehre.
Vol. 3: Unpublished Writings 1793-1795
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Jacob, with the assistance of Hans Gliwitzky and Manfred Zahn. 1971. VII,499 pp.
ISBN - 0146 3. Available.
This volume includes one of Fichte's most important hitherto unpublished works, "Eigne Meditationen über Elementarphilosophie." Here one can trace, in statu nascendi, the origins of his totally revolutionary conception of philosophy. The second part of this manuscript, "Practische Philosophie," contains a developed aesthetics, as well as a theory of all spiritual and intellectual interests. In addition, this volume includes Fichte's speech upon the occasion of his initiation into the Masonic Lodge in Rudolstadt, as well as items related to his activities at the university.
Vol. 4: Fichte's Lectures on Platner's "Philosophische Aphorismen."
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth, Hans Jacob, and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs, Kurt Hiller, and Peter K. Schneider. 1975. VI,416 pp.
ISBN - 0539 6. Available.
The volume contains all of the unpublished material from Fichte's lectures on "Logic and Metaphysics" (1794 until 1802, plus an excursus from 1812). In these lectures Fichte commented upon Platner's "Aphorismen," the most widely read philosophical compendium of the age. After the departure of Fichte, Hegel also lectured in Jena on "Logic and Metaphysics." Since Fichte comments on practically every one of the 1000 paragraphs of the First Part of Platner's "Aphorismen," Platner's text (which can also be ordered separately) provides an indispensable tool for understanding the idealistic position at the turn of 18th into the 19th century.
Vol. 4: Supplement.
Ernst Platner, "Philosophische Aphorismen," Leipzig 1793. Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs, Kurt Hiller, Peter K. Schneider, Adolf Schurr, and Anna-Maria Schurr-Lorusso. 1976. VI,363 pp.
ISBN - 0538 8. Available.
This volume contains the text to which Fichte refers in his lectures on "Logic and Metaphysic," supplemented by an index.
Vol. 5: Unpublished Writings 1796-1801.
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs, Kurt Hiller, Walter Schieche, Peter K. Schneider, and Manfred Zahn. 1983. VI,558 pp.
ISBN - 0737 2. Available.
Hitherto, only a portion of Fichte's many written responses to Schellingian idealism have been published. The volume includes all of this material up to 1801 and thus offers a complete documentation of this exchange. It also includes additional unpublished or only partially published texts concerning the atheism controversy and concerning Fichte's controversies with Reinhold and Biester, as well as a "Theorie des WechselRechts." After years of work, the editors were able to reconstruct from a collection of disorganized pages a "Neue Bearbeitung der Wissenschaftslehre," written by Fichte in October 1800.
Vol. 6: Unpublished Writings 1800-1803
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs, Peter K. Schneider, and Manfred Zahn. 1983. IV,460 pp.
ISBN - 0783 6. Available.
The focus of the texts in this volume is upon Fichte's development of the Wissenschaftslehre. The central document included in this volume is the version of the Wissenschaftslehre from 1800/01 (which differs from the heavily edited version published by I. H. Fichte). Also included is the "Privatissimum" of 1803, which has been reconstructed from various manuscripts and archival documents and which is thematically connected to the Wissenschaftslehre and points to the version of 1804. Also worthy of attention, alongside poems directed against Reinhold, Nicolai, and Biester, as well as other minor literary efforts, is the manuscript "Staatswirtschaft," which shows Fichte to be a sharp (even sharper than in the "Handelstaat") critic of the relationships of property, production, and money that prevailed during his own age.
Vol. 7: Unpublished Writings 1804-1805
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs, Albert Mues, and Peter K. Schneider. 1989. XII,571 pp.
ISBN - 0990 1. Available.
With the exception of the lectures on the Wissenschaftslehre from the summer of 1804 (contained in Vol. II/8), the volume contains all of the additional versions of the Wissenschaftslehre composed prior to Fichte's departure for Erlangen. The Wissenschaftslehre of the winter of 1804, which Fichte delivered before an audience consisting of Berlin's leading personalities from the government, the sciences, and the arts, marks his resumption of his activities as a teacher, which had been interrupted since 1802. In these lectures he exhaustively presented, in the form of a philosophia prima, the relationship of appearance to the absolute as a successive process free of all empirical-factual presuppositions. In this manner the objections of Fries were deprived of their force, and the transcendental standpoint was vindicated against Schelling. In the third Wissenschaftslehre of 1804 and in the attached "Prinzipien der Gottes-, Sitten- und Rechtslehre" Fichte completed his account of the self-development of appearances in connection with his philosophia prima. This volume also includes a few shorter writings on theology and pedagogy and concerning the concept of the Wissenschaftslehre.
Vol. 8: Unpublished Writings 1804
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs, Erich Ruff, and Peter K. Schneider. 1985. XLVI,471 pp.
ISBN - 1033 0. Available.
This volume contains Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre of 1804, as presented in 28 lectures between April 16 and June 28. Since Fichte's own manuscript is apparently lost, it was deemed necessary to reproduce the two surviving versions of this text on facing pages. Neither of these texts is authentic. One is the text published by I. H. Fichte in 1834, apparently based upon his father's manuscript. The other is a copy, in a still unidentified hand, which contains some gaps and occasional, small errors of transcription. Printing these two complete texts on facing pages makes it possible, for the first time, for the reader to compare the two complete texts and to assume for himself the responsibility of deciding upon the original wording. This device was made necessary on editorial and critical grounds, which also made it necessary to interrupt the otherwise strictly observed chronological order of the edition.
Vol. 9: Unpublished Writings 1805-1807
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Josef Beeler, Erich Fuchs, Ives Radrizzani, and Peter K. Schneider. 1993. X,545 pp.
ISBN - 1198 1. Available.
Following his appointment to a professorship in philosophy at the University of Erlangen, Fichte had to prepare lectures for the summer semester of 1805, including the "Institutiones omnis philosophiae," which, like the Jena lectures on "Logic and Metaphysic," were conceived as an introduction to the Wissenschaftslehre. Particularly interesting is the portion of this text devoted to elaborations of formal and higher (methodological) logic. For more advanced students, Fichte lectured on the Wissenschaftslehre. He wished this version to be understood as the fourth successive version of the Wissenschaftslehre, counting from the winter of 1804. In this Wissenschaftslehre Fichte presented his transcendental theory step by step, in a ongoing dialog with Schelling's "Philosophie und Religion" (1804), as the overcoming of speculative metaphysics.
Vol. 10: Unpublished Writings 1806-1807
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs, Marco Ivaldo, Peter K. Schneider, and Anna-Maria Schurr-Lorusso. 1994. 539 pp.
ISBN - 1476 X. Available.
The end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the defeat of Austria in 1805 and of Prussia in 1806, tore Fichte from his scientific studies and led him to apply himself to political problems. He opposed jingoistic Prussian patriotism, offered to serve as orator for the Prussian army, and, in the wake of the debacles of Jena and Auerstedt, drafted plans for a "Republik der Deutschen," which would be in harmony with the advance of knowledge. His diary entries record important events during his flight from Berlin to Königsberg. At the beginning of 1807 he obtained a professorship at the University of Königsberg, which gave him the occasion to produce a new version of the Wissenschaftslehre. In Copenhagen he revised, among other works, his "Bericht über die bisherige Schicksale der Wissenschaftslehre, darin die Abfertigung Schellings."
Vol. 11: Unpublished Writings 1807-1810
Ed. by R. Lauth, H. Gliwitzky, P. K. Schneider, and E. Fuchs, with the assistance of I. Radrizzani and Anna-Maria Schurr-Lorusso. 1998. X+469 pp.
ISBN - 1873 0. Available.
His departure from East Prussia signaled a new era in Fichte's scientific life. In his "Spekulation zu Kopenhagen" he located as a "task" those points on which he wished to clarify and deepen his Wissenschaftslehre even further. The draft of a "Beantwortung des Jacobischen Schreibens von 99" served as the prospectus for "establishing a philosophical journal," a project that soon had to be abandoned because of difficulties arranging for a publisher. Upon his return to Berlin, Fichte was commissioned by Minister Beyme to prepare for the Prussian government a "Plan einer zu Berlin zu errichtenden höhern Lehranstalt." In this plan Fichte proposed that the Prussian University be modeled upon a college system. But Fichte's plan was rejected in favor of Wilhelm von Humboldt's ideas. Fichte's unpublished papers contain scarcely any references to his "Reden an die Deutsche Nation" (December 1807 - March 1809). Following these lectures, Fichte was engaged in a general revision of his Wissenschaftslehre. These drafts show which problems Fichte thought still needed to be addressed, and they also demonstrate that his reflections on the philosophy of history during the years from 1806 to 1809 were also highly relevant to his conception of the Wissenschaftslehre. Fichte began his lectures at the then still unofficial University of Berlin with an "Anleitung zur Kunst des Philosophierens," followed, in February and March of 1810, with lectures on the Wissenschaftslehre.
Vol. 12: Unpublished Writings 1810-1812.
Ed. by R. Lauth, E. Fuchs, P. K. Schneider, and I. Radrizzani, with the assistance of Hans Georg von Manz. 1999. XII+465 pp.
ISBN - 1899 4. Available.
This volume begins with Fichte's Introductory Lectures to his first official course at the newly established University of Berlin, beginning in the Fall of 1810. These are followed by lectures from the Winter Semester of 1810/11 on The Facts of Consciousness, which, in Fichte's later period, served the function of leading one from the standpoint of ordinary consciousness to the level of science, thereby replacing the earlier ("Platner") lectures on Logic and Metaphysics. The Wissenschaftslehre of 1811 is here published for the first time. This version of the Wissenschaftslehre begins with the thought of the highest possible form of being, i.e. the absolute, and, using Spinoza and Schelling as examples, demonstrates the impossibility of establishing any ontological philosophy. A final example of Fichte's "popular" lectures is furnished by the manuscript of his lectures from the Summer Semester of 1811 Concerning the Vocation of the Scholar. This volume also includes an Address delivered in conjunction with the promotion of new professors (February 1811) and Fichte's Reflections on the rectoral election of 1811. Fichte's social activities during the years 1811/12 are documented by some doggerel verses he delivered when he became speaker of the "Christian-German Social Club (Tischgesellschaft)" and a record of a meeting of the same. This volume concludes with Fichte's recommendation of a proposal put forward by "Turnvater" Jahn concerning the establishment of the German student fraternities.
Vol. 13: Unpublished Writings 1812.
Ed. by R. Lauth, E. Fuchs, P. K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz, I. Radrizzani, and Günter Zöller. 2002. X+447 pp.
ISBN - 2033 6. Available.
The Wissenschaftslehre of 1812. This is the last complete version of
Fichte's lectures on the Wissenschaftslehre, and it is here published for
the first time in a reliable edition. This version begins with the most
determinate "point of view," that of ethical willing, understood as one of
the higher "schemata" of the absolute's appearance, from which Fichte
deduces the additional moments of knowing. The texts of the 1812 Doctrine
of Right [Rechtslehre] and the 1812 Doctrine of Ethics [Sittenlehre]
published here are based entirely on the lecture manuscripts and
incorporate nothing from previously published texts based upon other
sources. -- Three additional texts, none of which can be precisely dated,
illustrate Fichte's reaction to events of the day, such as Napoleon's
demand for reparations from Prussia. Here the philosopher engages in
fundamental reflections concerning the economic realm (the valuation of
agricultural wealth, monetary theory). The introductory lecture of the
Summer Semester of 1812 documents Fichte's efforts, at the start of the
semester, to attract and to introduce as many interested students as
possible to the study of philosophy.
Vol. 14: Unpublished Writings 1812.
Ed. by E. Fuchs, R. Lauth, P. K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz, I. Radrizzani, Martin Siegel, and Günter Zöller. 2006. IX+475 pp.
ISBN - 2171 5. Available.
This volume presents the remaining texts of 1812. The lecture course "Vom Verhältniß der Logik zur wirklichen Philosophie" delivered in the summer semester of 1812 is accessible to research for the first time. It analyzes empirical understanding and demonstrates the contradictory conception of thought in formal and transcendental logic, arguing that the formal-logical view of thought is untenable. This view of cognition is completed in the winter semester of 1812/13 in the earlier known work on transcendental logic, "Vom Unterschiede zwischen der Logik und der Philosophie selbst". This text passes from an understanding of the concept and the intuition up to the deduction of space. This work counts as one of the major philosophical writings of Fichte’s late period and is published here in a significantly improved form. The introductory lecture "On the Study of Philosophy in General" (WS 1812/13) not only sets out the conditions for understanding the Wissenschaftslehre but also Fichte’s procedure in the various versions of his Transcendental Logic. The volume is supplemented by two smaller texts whose dating is uncertain, "Zur Herstellung eines verlohren gegangenen Mskpts ... " and "2. noch Auszug".
Vol. 15: Unpublished Writings 1813.
Ed. by Erich Fuchs, Peter K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz, Ives Radrizzani, Martin Siegel, and Günter Zöller, with the assistance of Günter Meckenstock, and Erich Ruff. 2009. IX + 471 pp.
ISBN - 2172 1. Available.
The primary focus of "The Facts of Consciousness" (January 1813) is on practical facts and their justification, and provides an introductory platform for the incomplete Wissenschaftslehre of February 1813. Its point of departure is that all cognition is merely an understanding of itself. The further principles of cognition are then derived from this understanding of understanding. The "Diarium I" (March-August 1813) is here published for the very first time, and offers a glimpse into Fichte’s preparatory work for his lectures on "Political Theory" (Staatslehre) with their mixture of historical-philosophical and political reflections. Furthermore, ample space is devoted to speculations on an ultimate grounding of the Wissenschaftslehre.
Vol. 16: Unpublished Writings 1813-1814.
Ed. by Erich Fuchs, Peter K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz, Ives Radrizzani, Martin Siegel, and Günter Zöller, with the assistance of Alessandro Bertinetto, and Simone Furlani.
ISBN - 2335 0. in preparation, forthcoming 2010.
"Die Staatslehre oder über das Verhältniss des Urstaates zum Vernunftreiche" is reproduced in the edition of Fichte’s son Immanuel Hermann. The "Diarium II" (‘In a Dream…’) of August/September 1813 deals exclusively with the problems of the Wissenschaftslehre. In the "Diary on Animal Magnetism" of September 1813 Fichte reflects on current phenomena from the domains of medicine and psychology and juxtaposes them with relevant contemporary literature (e.g. Puysegur) and with his own observations.
Vol. 17: Unpublished Writings 1813-1814.
Ed. by Erich Fuchs, Peter K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz, Ives Radrizzani, Martin Siegel, and Günter Zöller, with the assistance of Erich Ruff.
ISBN - 2335 0. in preparation.
The “Introduction to the Wissenschaftslehre” of November/December 1813 leads from the everyday realistic standpoint to the transcendental view, and aims to consolidate the learner in the new cognition through the living instruction of the teacher. The "Diarium III" (October 1813-January 1814) continues the reflections of the previous two diaries and seeks to discover a satisfying presentation for the relationship or interpenetration between the divine life and the formative I. The 1814 Wissenschaftslehre starts with the supreme schema – from the self-understanding of the Wissenschaftslehre itself, and derives every other standpoint from it. In early 1814 Fichte contracted a fatal illness and the manuscript therefore breaks off after only five lectures. The final supplementary section includes mostly fragmentary texts whose chronology and content is difficult to classify. – This volume also contains a detailed index with the contents of all 42 volumes that is arranged both chronologically and according to subject matter and which should greatly assist in the location of specific texts within the Complete Edition.
Part Three: Correspondence
Vol. 1: Correspondence 1775-1793
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Jacob, with the assistance of Hans Gliwitzky and Manfred Zahn. 1968. X, 509 pp.
ISBN - 0147 1. Available.
The introduction to this, the first volume of Part Three, explains the editorial principles of the correspondence volumes. Included is the entire correspondence of Marie Johanne Fichte, née Rahn and niece of Klopstock, from the day of her marriage to Fichte until his death. This volume is primarily devoted to Fichte's school years and his years as a private tutor. It also includes his correspondence with his fiancé Johanne Rahn and his first letters to Kant. Roughly a third of these letters and drafts of letters are here published for the first time, and many others are published in full for the first time.
Vol. 2: Correspondence 1793-1795
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Jacob, with the assistance of Hans Gliwitzky and Manfred Zahn. 1970. VIII, 510 pp.
ISBN - 0148 X. Available.
This volume contains, above all, letters concerned with Fichte's appointment at Jena. The correspondents include Lavater, Reinhold, Kant, Goethe, Maimon, Schiller, and Jacobi. Fichte's letters paint a lively portrait of the unrest that then prevailed among the students. The letters to Reinhold and Schiller provide the first evidence of Fichte's differences with the Critical philosophy and with Schiller's aesthetic views.
Vol. 3: Correspondence 1796-1799
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Manfred Zahn and Peter K. Schneider. 1972. VIII, 463 pp.
ISBN - 0149 8. Available.
The high point of this volume is provided by the letters of Jacobi and Reinhold from the spring of 1799, which are philosophical treatises in their own right. In addition, we see Fichte engaged in defending himself against the charge of atheism. These letters explain the position of the Wissenschaftslehre with respect to the philosophy of religion.
Vol. 4: Correspondence 1799-1800
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Manfred Zahn and Peter K. Schneider. 1973. VIII, 473 pp.
ISBN - 0150 1. Available.
This volume begins with the letters written by Fichte from Berlin immediately after his departure from Jena and reveal his close relationship to he leading figures of the Romantic school: Schleiermacher, Schelling, and the Schlegel brothers. In the case of the correspondence with Schelling, these letters anticipate the conflict that led to the opposing positions of the System of Identity and the Wissenschaftslehre. The turn of the century was also the period in which Fichte was engaged in various project to establish new journals. In addition, these letters provide a glimpse into Fichte's domestic relations.
Vol. 5: Correspondence 1801-1805
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Erich Fuchs, Kurt Hiller, Peter K. Schneider, and Manfred Zahn. 1982. VIII, 444 pp.
ISBN - 0782 8. Available.
Fichte lived in Berlin during the years covered by this volume, with the exception of a brief period when he taught in Erlangen (1805). During these years he was primarily concerned with developing and presenting the Wissenschaftslehre. -- This volume also includes the final portion of Fichte's exchange with Schelling. During this period Fichte also kept in contact with Jacobi, Mehmel, Niethammer, Schiller, and von Wolzogen. The correspondence with Cotta includes many new letters not included in the Schulz edition of Fichte's Correspondence.
Vol. 6: Correspondence 1806-1810
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth, Hans Gliwitzky, Peter K. Schneider, and Erich Fuchs, with the assistance of Ives Radrizzani, Erich Ruff, and Manfred Zahn. 1997. XII, 418 pp.
ISBN - 0681 9. Available.
In October of 1806 Fichte accompanied the Prussian Court on its flight to Königsberg before the invading French army. Most of the first half of this volume consists of the letters exchanged between Fichte, who was lecturing on a new Wissenschaftslehre (1807) in Königsberg, and his wife, who remained behind in Berlin. He returned to Berlin by way of Copenhagen, where he wrote letters in support of Johannes von Müller. In his exchange with von Müller in Berlin he composed his "Deduzierten Plan" for the new university to be established in Berlin. An open letter from Josef Kurz makes reference to Jean Paul's "Clavis Fichtiana." The letters also document Fichte's experience with the censor regarding his "Reden an die Deutsche Nation," an experience that led to his efforts to abolish censorship. Following a serious illness, Fichte made a new effort to produce a universally comprehensible version of the Wissenschaftslehre and wrote his last major philosophical letter to F. H. Jacobi.
Vol. 7: Correspondence 1810-1812
Ed. by Erich Fuchs, Reinhard Lauth, Peter K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz, Ives Radrizzani, Martin Siegel, and Günter Zöller, with the assistance of Anna-Maria Schurr-Lorusso. 2007. XII, 385 pp.
ISBN - 2173 1. Available.
In addition to the letters hitherto known from W. Schulz’s edition of Fichte’s Correspondence (letters to the writer Ernst Wagner, to Fichte’s father and other relatives after the death of the latter, to Fouqué, and to earlier students), the principal focus of this volume are the letters exchanged with the authorities while Fichte was the dean and rector of the University of Berlin. Especially interesting are the discussions among the professors concerning student discipline. Bringing the gravity of his office and personality to bear in his intervention on behalf of a Jewish student that had been unfairly treated, Fichte was forced to resign after the vast majority of his colleagues refused to budge from their position.
Vol. 8: Correspondence 1812-1814; 1815-1818; 1788-1810
Ed. by Erich Fuchs, Peter K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz, Ives Radrizzani, Martin Siegel, and Günter Zöller. 2008. XI, 397 pp.
ISBN - 2437 1. Available.
The concluding volume of Fichte’s Correspondence includes the letters from the final two years of his life. It also contains a report on Fichte’s philosophical lectures for the government of Vienna and reflections on aesthetics (including architecture) for L.F. Catel. Further topics include the illnesses and deaths of Fichte’s parents in the years 1812 and 1813. The volume is rounded off by a series of newly discovered letters from Fichte’s earlier years, as well as letters from his wife Marie Johanne to the publisher Cotta, and to friends Charlotte von Schiller and Charlotte von Kalb, and to two students (Helmholtz and Schulz) who were close to Fichte. A complete index of names for all the volumes of Fichte’s Correspondence greatly facilitates work with series III.
Part Four: Lecture Transcripts
Vol. 1: Lecture Transcripts 1796-1798
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of Michael Brüggen, Kurt Hiller, Peter K. Schneider, and Anna-Maria Schurr-Lorusso. 1977. XI,537 pp.
ISBN - 0540 X. Available.
Some of Fichte's lectures are available to us only in the form of transcripts made by those who attended these lectures. This includes the two transcripts contained in this volume: the "Collegium über die Moral" of 1796 and "Vorlesungen über Logik und Metaphysik" of 1797/98. When read in conjunction with Fichte's writings of the period 1792-1802 (see Vol. II/4), these transcripts provide valuable information concerning the gradual development of Fichte's transcendental philosophy up to the point reached in the "Darstellung der Wissenschaftslehre" of 1801. They also reveal Fichte's views concerning formal logic, psychology, and philosophy of nature.
Vol. 2: Lecture Transcripts 1796-1798
Ed. by Reinhard Lauth and Hans Gliwitzky, with the assistance of J. Manzana, E. Fuchs, K. Hiller, and P. K. Schneider. 1978. XI,376 pp.
ISBN - 0541 8. Available.
The "Wissenschaftslehre nova methodo" (1796-1799) has been preserved only in two student transcriptions. (The second, the Krause transcript, which stems from the winter semester of 1798/99 was rediscovered in Dresden in 1980, see vol. IV,3). This volume contains the first transcript, which was previously published, but which is here presented for the first time in its complete and unaltered form. In addition, this volume also includes Cauer's transcript of the first part of the second Wissenschaftslehre of 1804, which is useful for deciphering the difficult text of this Wissenschaftslehre.
Vol.3: Lecture Transcripts 1794-1799
Ed. by Erich Fuchs, Reinhard Lauth, Ives Radrizzani, Peter K. Schneider,
and Günter Zöller, with the assistance of Heinrich Fauteck
and Hans Georg von Manz. 2000. IX,593 pp.
ISBN - 0138 2. Available.
Since the appearance of Volume IV,2, six new lecture transcripts have been
discovered, a fact that justifies a chronological break in series
IV. Accordingly, this volume includes a transcript by Kasper Lavater of
Fichte's first five lectures Concerning the Concept of the
Wissenschaftslehre, which were delivered in Lavater's living room in the
spring of 1794. Fichte's first lectures on Natural Law [Naturrecht] are
documented in a fragmentary transcript from the literary remains of
Fichte's student Johann Smidt, who later became a politician in
Bremen. Also included in this volume is a rough and unrevised transcript
of Fichte's Platner lectures on "Logic and Metaphysics" from 1796/97, from
the papers of Friedrich August Eschen (1776-1800) discovered in Eutin, as
well as a fragmentary transcript, from the same source, of the 1796/97
"Wissenschaftslehre nova methodo." The literary remains of the Swedish
philosopher Benjamin Karl Henrik Höijer (1767-1812) contains a Swedish
transcript of Fichte's Platner lectures from August and September 1798.
This transcript is here published for the first time in its entirety, along
with a German translation of the same. The primary text included in this
volume, however, is the transcript of the 1798/99 "Wissenschaftslehre nova
methodo," by Karl Friedrich Krauses (1780-1829), which was discovered in
Dresden in 1980. This is a text that dramatically improves our
understanding of the second phase of Fichte's pedagogic activity in Jena.
Vol.4: Lecture Transcripts 1810-1812
Ed. by Erich Fuchs, Reinhard Lauth, Peter K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz,
Ives Radrizzani, Martin Siegel, and Günter Zöller, with the
assistance of Hans U. Kopp, and Anna-Maria Schurr-Lorusso. 2004. IX,513 pp.
ISBN - 2174 X. Available.
Fichte's general introductory lecture of October 1810, "On the Study of
Philosophy," has been preserved only in a transcription by August Twesten
(discovered in 1999). It addresses the question, How is the communication
of knowledge (including empirical, historical, and a priori knowledge)
possible? This is also the concern of Fichte's introductory lecture from
the winter semester of 1811/12. The latter thematizes even more clearly
the difference between the methods of the sciences. Three versions of this
lecture are available (by Cauer, Schopenhauer, and an anonymous auditor),
and all of three of these are included in this volume. Three different
transcripts of the lectures on "The Facts of Consciousness" from the same
semester (1811/12) are also available (by Cauer, Schopenhauer, and an
anonymous auditor, the "Halle transcript"). Fichte's own manuscript of
these lectures has not survived. This circumstance, combined with the fact
that each of these three transcripts has its own distinctive advantages and
supplements the other two, justifies the publication of all three. They
provide an objective presentation of the totality of knowledge and serve as
the didactic presupposition for understanding the complex argumentation of
the 1812 Wissenschaftslehre (see Volume II,13). The primary text
contained in this volume is the transcript of the 1812
Wissenschaftslehre. Of the seven surviving transcripts of this lecture
series, manuscript Yg 21 (from the library of Halle University) is here
published in full as the "guiding text," though it is supplemented by
significant variations, as contained in the qualitatively next-best
versions (Cauer, Itzig).
Vol.5: Lecture Transcripts 1812
Ed. by Erich Fuchs, Peter K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz,
Ives Radrizzani, Martin Siegel, and Günter Zöller, with the
assistance of Matteo V. d'Alfonso. 2008. X,566 pp.
ISBN - 2175 2. Available.
The student lecture transcripts (Itzig, Halle, Lisco, among others) of the two 1812 courses on Transcendental Logic furnish a complete primary text that is also supplemented by passages from parallel transcripts. They correspond to the content of Volume II,14 and provide additional material for an understanding of Fichte’s manuscripts, especially for the analysis of empirical cognition and the outline of a Transcendental Logic ("Vom Verhältnis der Logik zur wirklichen Philosophie", 1812), and for an understanding of the concept and the intuition up to the deduction of space ("Vom Unterschiede zwischen der Logik und der Philosophie selbst", 1812/13). Finally, "On the Study of Philosophy in General" (1812) explicates the conditions for understanding the Wissenschaftslehre and Fichte’s procedure in the two versions of the Transcendental Logic.
Vol.6: Lecture Transcripts 1812-1814
Ed. by Erich Fuchs, Peter K. Schneider, Hans Georg von Manz,
Ives Radrizzani, Martin Siegel, and Günter Zöller, with the
assistance of Matteo V. d'Alfonso, Faustino Fabbianelli, and Antonie Magen.
ISBN - 2176 9. In preparation, forthcoming 2010.
The student transcripts of this volume considerably facilitate our understanding of Fichte’s difficult and terse preparatory texts. This not only holds for the revised lectures of the later works on the "Rechtslehre" and "Sittenlehre" of 1812, but also for "The Facts of Consciousness" and the Wissenschaftslehre (both from early 1813), the "Introduction to the Wissenschaftslehre" (Fall, 1813) and the 1814 Wissenschaftslehre. The lecture transcript entitled "Darstellung des Christenthums" documents a portion of the lectures on the "Staatslehre". Because of its various hypothetical approaches to the elements that constitute consciousness, "The Facts of Consciousness" merely serves as an introduction to the Wissenschaftslehre. Whereas it is the task of the Wissenschaftslehre itself to supply a complete deduction of the cognitive presuppositions of these elements within a systematic framework. War forced the suspension of these lectures, and in winter 1813/14 Fichte renewed his attempt. Of these there is extant a hitherto unpublished transcript of a comprehensive "Introduction", followed by five lectures from the 1814 Wissenschaftslehre. The latter was cut short by Fichte’s death.
J. G. Fichte
Ueber den Begriff der Wissenschaftslehre (1794)
Grundlage der gesammten Wissenschaftslehre (1794/95)
Student Edition. Partial edition of Vol. I/2 of the J. G. Fichte Complete Edition of the Bavarian Academy of the Sciences. Including a detailed index prepared by Hans Michael Baumgartner and Wilhelm G. Jacobs. 1969. 415 p. Paper. New price: € 10,-/sFr 19,-.
ISBN - 051 X. Available.
This "student edition" includes the full text of each of these works (both first and second editions), based upon the text contained in the Complete Edition. Also included is Reinhard Lauth's introduction, which includes a full report on the origin and production of these texts, as well as the reception of the same.
J.G.Fichte im Gespräch. Berichte der Zeitgenossen
[J.G.Fichte in Conversation. Contemporary Reports.]
Edited by Erich Fuchs in cooperation with Reinhard Lauth and Walter Schieche.
The volumes contain reports by Fichte's contemporaries, both friends and opponents, concerning both his personality and his philosophy. The reports are drawn from a great variety of sources, both published and unpublished, and greatly expand our knowledge of the contemporary reception of Fichte and the Wissenschaftslehre.
6 in 7 Vols. 1978ff. Cloth. € 924,-/ sFr 1608,-.
ISBN 3 7728 0707 0
Band 1: 1762-1798 - 1978. X, 573 S. ISBN 3 7728 0708 9
Band 2: 1799-1801 - 1980. XI, 454 S. ISBN 3 7728 0709 7
Band 3: 1801-1806 - 1981. XIII, 474 S. ISBN 3 7728 0710 0
Band 4: 1806-1812 - 1987. XII, 495 S. ISBN 3 7728 0784 4
Band 5: 1812-1814. Plus: Chronicle of Fichte's Life. - 1991. XIII, 436 S. ISBN 3 7728 0721 6
Band 6.1: Supplement to vols. 1-5. Part 1: 1771-1799. - 1992. XVIII, 491 S. ISBN 3 7728 1497 2
Band 6.2: Supplement to vols. 1-5. Part 2: 1799-1816. - 1992. VII, 403 S. ISBN 3 7728 1498 0
J.G.Fichte in zeitgenössischen Rezensionen
Edited by Erich Fuchs, Wilhelm G. Jacobs, and Walter Schieche.
These volumes contain all significant reviews published during Fichte's lifetime of nearly each of his works.
4 vols. 1995. Cloth. New price: € 298,-/ sFr 519,-.
ISBN 3 7728 1489 1
Band 1: Nr. 1-43. IV, 419 S. ISBN 3 7728 1490 5
Band 2: Nr. 44-93. X, 454 S. ISBN 3 7728 1491 3
Band 3: Nr. 94-138. VII, 504 S. ISBN 3 7728 1492 1
Band 4: Nr. 139-172. VII, 434 S. ISBN 3 7728 1493 X
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb: Die späten wissenschaftlichen Vorlesungen (1809-1814)
Edited by Hans Georg von Manz, Erich Fuchs, Reinhard Lauth, and Ives Radrizzani.
6 vols. - fhs 1-6. ISBN 3 7728 2008 5
- fhs 1. (1809-1811). 2000. € 25,-/ sFr 46,-. ISBN 3 7728 2009-3
- fhs 2. (1811). 2003. € 25,-/ sFr 46,-. ISBN 3 7728 2010-7