Fichte's Foundations of Natural Right: A Critical Guide

Description

Fichte's Foundations of Natural Right (1796/97) was one of the most influential books in nineteenth-century philosophy. It was read carefully by Schelling, Hegel, and Marx, and initiated a tradition in German philosophy that considers human subjectivity to be relational and intersubjective, thus requiring relations of recognition between subjects. The essays in this volume highlight this little-understood book's most important ideas and innovations. They offer discussions of Fichte's conception of freedom, self-consciousness, coercion, the summons, the body, and human rights, together with new analyses of his deduction of right, his views on the social contract, and his arguments for the separation of right from morality. The essays expand and deepen ongoing debates in the scholarship and chart new avenues of thought about Fichte's most enduring work of political philosophy. They will be essential reading for students and scholars of German Idealism, nineteenth-century philosophy, and the history of political thought.

Gabriel Gottlieb is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Xavier University, Ohio. He is the author of a number of articles on Fichte in publications including The Nineteenth Century Philosophy Reader (2015).

'In my judgment, this is the best volume of essays on Fichte (and certainly on Fichte's political philosophy) to have appeared in any language.' Jeffery Kinlaw, McMurry University, Texas 'This excellent collection features consistently illuminating and often groundbreaking work on issues raised by Fichte's philosophy of right. All twelve chapters make new contributions to specialized debates. Most will be accessible to nonspecialists nonetheless, and many will richly repay careful consideration by readers interested in Fichte, post-Kantian political theory, or classic debates about rights and the state.' Steven Hoeltzel, Journal of the History of Philosophy