Johanne Fichte published The Destination of Man (Die Bestimmung des Menschen) in 1799. It was translated into English in 1846 by Jane Sinnett and then again in 1848 by William Smith. Fichte says his book is designed to "raise [the reader] from the sensuous world, to that which is above sense." Francis Bacon said, in The Advancement of Learning, "the two ways of contemplation are not unlike the two ways of action commonly spoken of by the ancients; the one plain and smooth in the beginning, and in the end impassable; the other rough and troublesome in the entrance, but after a while fair and even. So it is in contemplation; if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." Rene Descartes said "in order to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of our life, to doubt, as far as possible, of all things." Fichte moves from doubt to knowledge and finally to faith in his exploration of the self.
By : Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762 - 1814), translated by Jane Sinnett (1804 - 1870)
08 - Chapter 8 Knowledge - Sensation or contemplation
09 - Chapter 9 Knowledge – Thy system … My system
10 - Chapter 10 Faith – To do is the destiny of man
11 - Chapter 11 Faith – Inward voice
12 - Chapter 12 Faith – Beyond good and evil
13 - Chapter 13 Faith – The goal attained, what now?
14 - Chapter 14 Faith – Causes and effects cannot be my destiny
15 - Chapter 15 Faith – A member of two orders
16 - Chapter 16 Faith – A will which is itself law
17 - Chapter 17 Faith – The Infinite Will
18 - Chapter 18 Faith – Creative life flows like a continuous stream
The following work contains, within a brief compass, a popular but systematic exposition of Fichte’s Philosophy; and as such will not, it is hoped, be unacceptable to the English Student. It was written at Berlin in 1799, after his retirement from the University of Jena, and at the commencement of that period of profound study which afterwards resulted in the complete elaboration of his theory of the Absolute. In the present work we discover the first traces of those deeply religious tendencies which his mind acquired during that period, and which are more fully developed in his subsequent writings.
A version of the book was published in England a few years ago under the title of “The Destination of Man.” The anxious wish of the translator that a full and accurate edition of these writings should be placed in the hands of the English reader, must be his apology for what may appear, to those unacquainted with the original, an unnecessary or even invidious undertaking.
Comments
Post a Comment