(Fichte J. G.) The Popular Works of Johann Gottlie
(Fichte J. G.) The Popular Works of Johann Gottlie
(Fichte J. G.) The Popular Works of Johann Gottlie
POPULAR WORKS
OF
J O i l A N N G O T T L I E B F I C H T E
T R A N S L A T E D F R O M T H E G E R M A N
BY
BBB1MB N
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V O L U M E II.
L 0 X I) 0 N :
T R U B N E B & CO., LI T I)G1TE HILL
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CONTENTS OF VOLUME IL
PRESENT AGE
CONTENTS.
LECTCBE I. I D E A OF U N I V E R S A L H I S T O R Y , . . . . page 1
TIL T H D L I F E A C C O P . D I M TO R E A S O N , . . . . page 35
T h e Life according to Reason in contrast w ; th t h e life
of such an Age consists in this,that the Life of the In-
dividual ahuuld be dedicated to that of t h e Race, or to
Ideas. An experiment on the minds of the audience,
whether they can withhold their approval, admiration
and reverence from such a Life. "What necessarily follow s
from t h e successful result of such a test.
IV T H E L I F E ^OO.IRDISG TO R E A S O N ,
. . . page 5 1
Continuation of the experiment. Description of the en-
joyment of the Life in the Idea by any one who truly a n d
in reality lives this Life.
Viii CONTENTS.
IX. T H E O R I G I N A N D L I M I T S OF H I S T O R Y ,
. . . page 1 1 1
The remaining characteristics and peculiarities of any Age-
depend upon its Social Condition, and especially upon the
State, and ,ire to be defined thereby. Hence, before far-
t h e r delineation of the Third Age, it must first be ascer-
tained to what stage of its development the State has at-
tained in this Age. This can be done only by means of
Hiatoiy, and therefore we must in t h e first place set forth
generally our view of History. Exposition of this view.
X. T H E A B S O L U T E F O R M OF T E E S T A T E ,
. . . page 1 5 8
The Idea of the State in its Absolute Foim. Three pos-
sible fundamental form3 of the actual State in its progress
towards perfection. Distinction between Civil and
Political Freedom.
CONTENTS. ix
IIow the State hail its beginning in Central Asia, and how
i t attained in Greece and Rome to Equality of Eight fnr
AH, as its second stage of development. Union of the
whole existing Culture in one single State in the Roman
Empire.
X V . P U B L I C M O R A L I T Y OF T H E P R E S E N T A G E , . . page 211
LECTURE I.
IDUA OF U N I V E R S A L HISTORY.
E p o c h s o f t h e O x i : TIME a n d o f t b e O N E ETERNAL L I F E ;
a n d this Earthly Li;o with all its subordinate divisions
may bo deduced from the fundamental Idea of the ETER-
NAL LIFE already accessible to us here below. It is our
present voluntary limitation alone which forbids us to
undertake this strictly demonstrable deduction, and per-
mits us here only to declare the fundamental Idea of the
Earthly Life, requesting every hearer to bring this Idea
to the test of his own sense of trufh, and, if he can, to
approve it thereby. Life of MANKIND on Earth, we have
said, and Epochs of this Life. W e speak here only of the
progressive Life of the Race, not of the Individual, which
last in all these discourses shall remain untouched,and
I beg of you never to lose sight of this our proper point
of view.
The Idea of a World-Plan is thus implied in ourinquiiy,
which, however, I am not at this time to deduce from the
fundamental Idea indicated above, but only to point out.
I say therefore,and so lay the foundation of our rising
edifice,the End of the Life of Mankind on Earth is this,
(hot in this Life they may order all their relations with
FREEDOM according to REASON.
With FREEDOM, I have said ;their own Freedom,
the Freedom of Mankind in their collective capacity,as
a Race :and this Freedom is the first accessory condition
of our fundamental principle which I intend at present to
pursue, leaving the other conditions, which may likewise
need explanation, to the subsequent lectures. This Free-
dom becomes apparent in the .collective consciousness of
the Race, and it appears there as the proper and peculiar
Freedom of the R a c e ; a s a true and real f a c t ; t h e
product of the Race during its Life and proceeding from
its Life, so that the absolute existence of the Race itself
is necessarily implied in the existence of the fact and pro-
duct thus attributed to it. (If a certain person has done
something, it is unquestionably implied in that fact that
6 LECTURE II.
LECTURE II.
IN the first place, let him who desires to he met with the
same honest purpose which I presume leads him here, cast
back a kindly glance upon our former lecture. I t appears
that many of this assembly have not been able altogether to
follow the greater part of that which I said at the begin-
ning of my previous address. In so far as this may have
any other cause than want of acquaintance with the style,
voice, and maimer of the lecturer, and the novelty of the
whole situation,all of which may be overcome by a few
minutes' custom,'allow me, as some consolation should
the like happen again, to add the following :That whick
some of my hearers nave been unable thoroughly to
comprehend, does not so much belong to the subject itself,
as to the practice of the art which we now employ,the
art of philosophizing. It is serviceable to us in finding
an introduction and commencement in the circle of other
knowledge from which to set forth our subject, and in
strictly defining our point of separation from this system of
knowledge ; it is a part of the account which we teachers
and masters must render of our manner of working. Every
other art,as poetry, music, painting,may be practised
without the process showing forth the rules according to
which it is conducted;but in the self-cognizant art of
16 LECTURE II.
in which we, who now live and think and speak to each
other, do actually exist and live. It is by no means my
purpose at present to mark out the centuries, or even cycles,
which may have elapsed since that which I call the Present
A g e first appeared in the world. Obviously, an Age can
only be judged and understood by observation of those
nations who stand at the head of the civilization of their
time:but as civilization haswanderedfrom people to people,
so with this civilization an A g e too may have wandered
from people to people, remaining unchangeably one and
the same in principle amid all variety of climate and of
soil; anil so likewise, in virtue of the purpose of uniting
ail nations into one great commonwealth, may the Age be
arrested and detained on the stage during a considerable
period of chronological Time, and thus, as it were, the
Time-current be compelled to a pause. Especially may
this be the case with an A g e like that which we have to
describe, throughout which adverse worlds meet and
struggle with each other, slowly striving to attain an
equilibrium, and thereby to secure the peaceful extinction
of the elder time. Put, it is only after we have acquired
a more intimate knowledge of the principle of the Age,
and have learned at the same time how history is to be
questioned and what we have to seek from her, that it
will be useful or proper for us to adduce from the bistory
of the actual world whatever may be necessary for our
purpose and may serve to guard us from error. Not
whether our words, had they been uttered centuiies ago,
would then have depicted reality,nor whether they shall
picture it forth after centuries have passed away,but
only whether they now represent it truly, is the question
which is proposed for your final decision.
So much by way of preface to our first task,to unfold
the principle of the Age ;now to the solution of this pro-
blem. I have laid down this principle as Liberation from
the compulsion of the blind Authority exorcised by Reason as
20 LECTURE II.
I
LECTURE I I .
LECTUBE III.
T H E L I F E ACCORDING TO REASON.
ing merely for the sake of exciting it, and that so I may
be enabled to make a momentary use of it to aid my pur-
pose, as the orator does; but, on the contrary, that this
feeling may be excited in you with your own clear and
distinct consciousness and concurrence, not exerting a mere
passive influence on you, but to the end that its existence
may be clearly recognised by you, and that it may thus
be more fully and completely understood.
The philosopher is compelled, by the rules of his art, to
deal with perfect openness and honesty; and in return he
acquires a power which lies far beyond the sophistries of
mere eloquence;he is able to dcclare to his hearers before-
hand the emotion which he desires to excite within them,
and, provided tliey rightly understand him, to attain his
object notwithstanding the disclosure.
This free and open announcement of the purpose which
we have in view, lays me under an obligation to describe
more particularly the nature of the effect which I shall at-
tempt to produce within y o u ; and in order to maintain the
clear, ; ntelligible position which we have now attained, I
shall at once proceed to this description. I have only to
ask you to fix in your mind a few expressions and phrases
which may not as yet be entirely distinct to yon, but which
shall be made perfectly clear in the sequel.
The Life according to Reason must necessarily love itself;
for every form of life, as its own perfect result ami fulfil-
ment, is enjoyment of itself. A s surely as Reason can never
be entirely extinguished among men, so surely can this love
of Reason for itself never be utterly destroyed; nay, this
love, as the deepest root of all rational existence, and as
the sole remain'ng tie which keeps men within the circle of
rational existence, is precisely that whereby we may most
surely recognise and attain the Life according to Reason,
if we will only be honest and unprejudiced.
Now the L i f e opposed to Reason,that of mere Indivi-
duality,likewise loves itself; since it too is life, and all
THE LIFE ACCORDING TO REASON. 41
What I have declared in the first place, was once the form
of Humanity, aud in part is so still: what I have described
in the second, is its present form, at least among ourselves.
How, by whom, and by what manner of impulses, has this
new creation been accomplished '?
W h o then, in the first place, gave to the countries of
Modern Europe their present habitable shape, and made
them worthy to be the dwelling-place of cultivated men ?
History answers the question. It was pious and holy men,
who, believing it to he God's Will that the timid fugitive of
the woods should be elevated to civilized life, and thereby
to the blessed knowledge of a Godhead full of love to man,
left the abodes of sfivilization and all the physical and
intellectual enjoyments to he found there,left their fami-
lies, friends and associates, and went forth into the desert
wilderness, enduring the bitterest privations, encountering
the severest labour, and, what is more, pursuing their end
with unwearied patience, that they might win the confidence
of untutored tribes, by whom they were persecuted and
robbed;frequently terminating an anxious and wcarv life
by a martyr's death at the hands of those for whom, and
for us their descendants, they died,rejoicing in the hope
that from their ashes a worthier generation should arise.
These men, without doubt, gave up their personal lffe and
its enjoyments for their Idea, and in this Idea for the Race.
And should any one offer this objection :' They indeed
sacrificed the present life for the expectation of an infinitely
higher, heavenly, aud blessed life, which they hoped to de-
serve by these sacrifices and sufferings; but still it was only
enjoyment, for enjoyment, and ndeed the lesser for the
greater ;'theu I would entreat such an objector earnestly
to considerwith me the following. How Inadequately soever
they might express themselves in words as to the Elessed-
ness of another world, and with what sensuous pictures
soever they might clothe their descriptions of this happi-
ness, I ask only to know how they arrived at this firm
48 LECTURE lil.
LECTURE IV.
T H E L T f E ACCORDING TO REASON.
A t tlie time wlien he goes forth into action, and has already
once for all completed in his own mind the consecration of
his life, he and he only, and none other but himself, has
examined and approved the mode of life which he has set
before him;how then does be know that Present and
Future Ages will likewise approve it and cover it with im-
mortal glory ?how does he come so boldly to ascribe to
the whole Race his own standard of what is honourable and
praiseworthy ? Y e t he does this, as is alleged ; and this
single remark of itself proves, that, in acting as he does,
far from being mo\ ed thereto by the hope of future fame,
he holds up to future Ages, in his own deeds springing forth
in native purity from the primeval fountain of honour, the
example of what they must approve and reverence, if their
judgment is to have any weight with him ; despising and
even utterly rejecting such judgment if it be not in ac-
cordance with that which has already approved itself to him
as worthy of eternal honour and respect. And thus it is
not ambition which is the parent of great deeds, but great
deeds themselves give birth to faith in a world in which
they must command respect. That form of Honour, indeed,
which comes before us in every-day life, and of which we
do not now speak, proceeds entirely from fear of dis-
grace ; w'thout power to excite man to active duty, it
only holds him back from that which would be notoriously
despised, and disappears as soon as he can hope to pass
unnoticed. Another Ambition, of which too we do not
now speak, which first pores over ancient chronicles to
discover what in them is commended, and then endeavours
to imitate that, so as also to become an object of commen-
dation; and which being incapable of creating the New,
strives to reproduce in itself certain effete memorials of
the Past, which once indeed may have possessed life and
energy:such an ambition may sacrifice itself, but
that to which it devotes itself is not an Idea but a Con-
ceit ;and it misses its purpose; for what is once dead
TflE LIFE ACCORDING TO REASON. 55
our own sense and consciousncss, that the one Idea assumes
different forms;which different forms are then them-
selves named Ideas. I say expressly,within our own
sense and consciousness ; for only in consciousness do these
manifestations of the Idea differ from each other : hevond
that they are but one.
The first form assumed among men by this effluence
of Original Energy,that in which it has manifested
itself in the earliest Ages, and in which it is most widely
active at the present day, is its expression in outward
matter by means of our own material power;and in
this expression of the Idea the Fine Arts consist. Effluence
of Original Energy, I have said,flowing forth from
itself, and sufficient for itself, independent of experience
or observation of the external world. Thus latter gives
us only r ndividual, and therefore ignoble and hateful,
conceptions, which in having attained reality in one in-
stance, have attained it once too often already;the
repetition and multiplication of which by Art would be
but an evil service to humanity. In outward matter, 1
said,^irrespective of its peculiarities :whether the phy-
sical representation of one lost in the Idea (for this alone
is the true object of Art) stand fixed in marble, or
glow upon the canvass; or the emotions of an inspired
F O U I find an utterance in music, or the feelings and
thoughts of such a mind speak themselves simply in
words;still it is the effluence of Original Energy in
outward matter.
The true Artist, in the sense in which we have spoken of
him, finds in the practice of his Art the highest enjoyment
of the Blessedness we have described '; for his wdiole bcina:
O
goes forth in free self-sufficient activity, and in the con-
sciousness of this activity. And is there any one, then,
to whom every way is closed of participating in the enjoy-
ment of such creations ; and so, in a certain sense, and
in a far inferior degree, becoming a joint-creator of them;
TflE LIFE ACCORDING TO REASON. 03
scious dwelling of all activity and all life in the One, Ever-
Present Source of Life, the Godhead;or Religion. lie
in whom this consciousness arises with immediate and
unalterable certitude and becomes the soul of all his other
knowledge, thoughts, and feelings,he has entered into
possession of a happiness which can never be disturbed.
Whatever he encounters, is a form of that original source
of Life which in all its forms i.i holy and good, and
which lie cannot but love in every shape it may assume;
for it is, as he may express it in other words, the Will
of God, with which his Will is always at one. Whatever
he may be called upon to do, however difficult, mean, or
ignoble it may seem, is the living form of that fountain
of Life within him, to be the expression of which con-
stitutes his greatest happiness;it is the Will of God
with him ; and to be the instrument of God is his supreme
delight. l i e who ploughs his field in this Faith ami
Love is infinitely more blessed than he who, without
them, removes mounta'ns.
These are the materials for the picture of the One Life
according to Reason, to the delineation of which we have
devoted the last and the present lecture. Let us now gather
together these materials into one conception.
We said that the different forms into which the concep-
tion of the One Eternal Original Energy separates itself in
our consciousness, and of which we have now" indicated the
most remarkable,are nevertheless,beyondthis consciousness
of ours, only one and the same Energy. Wherever this
Energy enters into life in any one of these forms, it never-
theless, in and by virtue of that form, embraces itself as a
whole, loves itself as a whole, and develops itself as a
whole, only without its own knowledge or consciousness ;
nowhere separated into parts, but always the One, un-
divided Energy repeated and reproduced in different
shapes; everywhere the One Life, the fountain of whose
Being is in itself Alone, ceaselessly producing itself anew
T f l E LIFE ACCORDING TO REASON. 05
and nobly bring bis life a gift to the altar of the Eternal
Life, in the full fore-enjoyrnent of the new Life which if
to arise from hi ashes.
So s if :under this sacred Legislation, willing or un-
willing, asked or unasked, we all stand;and it is but a
heavy fever-dream which weighs upon the brain of the
Egoist when he thinks that he may live for himself alone,
whereby he cannot change the nature of things, but only
does himself a wrong. Might there some more gladden-
ing dream from out the Infinite Silence at times refresh
the slumberer in the cradle of E t e r n i t y ! m i g h t there,
from time to time, prophetic whispers fall upon hip ear,
that there is a Light and a D a y !
(69)
LECTURE Y.
F A R T H E R D E L I N E A T I O N OF T H E T H I R D AGE.
all its parts proceeding from, and referred back to, one
central point; but they ratber resemble a cloud of sand
in which each grain is a whole to itself, and which is
only held together by the inconstant wind. I t seems a
master-stroke of "nvention in such an A g e to hit upon
the mode of communicating knowledge after the order
of the letters of the alphabet. Hence its representa-
tions can never possess clearness ; the want of which is
supplied by a tiresome perspicacity amounting to noth-
ing rnote than frequent repetition of the same thing.
Wherever this A g e attains to its full efficiency, this mode
of communication even comes to understand itself and
to represent itself as worthy of imitation ; so that from
thenceforward elegance 's placed in neither giving the
reader the trouble of thinking for himself, nor in any way
calling forth his own independent activity, which indeed
ii considered obtrusive; and the classical writings of
the A g e are those which every one may read without
preparation, and peruse, and lay aside, and still remain
exactly what he was before. Not so he who has Ideas to com-
municate and who is moved by Ideas to such communica-
tion. Not he himself speaks, but the Idea speaks, or writes,
in him with indwelling power;and that only is a good
discourse wherein the speaker does not so much declare the
thought, as the thought declares itself by the organ of the
speaker. That such discourses have been delivered, at least
in former times, and that it has not always been the fashion
to avoid arousing independent thought in the mind of the
hearer or reader, 's proved by the writings which are loft
to us of classical antiquity; the study of which, indeed,
and of the languages in which they are written, will lie
discountenanced and discarded by the Third A g e wherever
it. acts consequentially,in order that its own produc-
tions alone may be held in honour and esteem.
The Idea, and the Idea only, fills, satisfies, and blesses
the mind:an A g e without the Idea must therefore neces-
80 LECTURE VII.
L E C T U R E VI:
LECTURE VII.
dread of the new power; and this the more easily that
Protestantism itself placed these means in her hands.
There soon arose, namely, in the bosom of the latter, a
new Gnostiscism ; bearing indeed the form of Protestan-
tism and taking its stand on the Bible, but, like the old
Gnostiscism, maintaining the principle that the Bible
must be interpreted by Reason; that is, by such Reason
as these Gnostics themselves possessed;and they were
just so far reasonable as the worst of all philosophical
systems, that of Locke, enabled thein to be. They did
no other service than combating some of the Paulinean
notions;that of vicarious satisfaction, saving faith in this
satisfaction, &c.;leaving untouched the great leading
error of an arbitrary God, now making Covenants, and now
abolishing them, according to time and circumstances. By
this means Protestantism lost almost every feature of
Positive Religion, and the followers of the old faith were
enabled, aptly enough, to represent it as absolute In-
fidelity. Thus securely protected against its assailants,
the Church had nothing more to fear from Authorship
and its attendant tribe of Readers; and these could now
propagate their opinions out of Protestant into Catholic
States under the name of Independent Philosophy.
Thus much it was necessary for me to say in order to re-
solve the question with which we set out, as to the origin
of the high value which : s now set upon the printed letter.
In this inquiry, I have had to touch upon matters which
possess great value for many who associate them with what
aldne is possessed of absolute valuewith Religion. I
have spoken of Catholicism and Protestantism, so that
it may be seen that I hold thein both to be in error i.i
the most important matter at issue; and I would not
willingly leave this matter without, at least, declaring
my own view of it.
In my opinion, both parties stand on one common ground
which is wholly untenable,the Paulinean theory;which,
V
114 LECTURE VII.
LECTURE VIII.
LECTURE IX.
LECTURE X.
LECTURE XI.
FARTHER D E F I N I T I O N OF THE IDEA OF T H E STATE.
LECTURE XII.
* Rousseau.
HISTORICAL DEVKLOP.UKNT OF THE STATE. 193
would fall into the arms of the conquerors all the more
readily that they spared its inhabitants everything which
they valued,oven their vanity.
By means of this universal dominion of the Romans,
there were spread abroad ovei the whole civilized world
Civil Freedom, participation in Civil Rights for all free-
born men, Justice according to a fixed law, Financial
Administration upon settled principles, actual care for
the existence of the people, milder and more humane
manners, respect for the customs, the religion, and the
ways of thinking of other nations:all this in consti-
tutional theory at least, although these principles might
sometimes be repudiated in the actual administration of
Govern inent.
This was the fulness, the maturity of Ancient Civiliza-
tion :a state of Right, at least ; n form: to which Hu-
manity must first be raised before a new development
could begin. Scarcely, however, had Humanity attained
this state, than this new development appeared. The
True Religion of the Normal People, hitherto preserved
in an obscurity which concealed it from the eye of His-
tory, now came forth to the open day, and spread itself
almost unimpeded over the realm of Culture which was
now fortunately embraced in one single State. I t was
among the first maxims of this State to take no note
of the religious opinions of subject nations; and thus it
was impossible that it should thoroughly understand this
Religion, and foresee the consequent fate which awaited
itself. Had not the new Religion been accidentally placed
: a antagonism to the worship offered to the statues of
LECTURE XIII.
I N F L U E N C E OF CHRISTIANITY ON T H E STATE.
LECTURE XI V .
LECTURE XV.
P U B L I C M O R A L I T Y OF T H E P R E S E N T AGE.
L E C T U R E X V J
P U B L I C R E L I G I O N OF TI1E P R E S E N T AGE.
LECTURE XVII.
C O N C L U S I O N .
just as each of you might have done for himself, Lad lie
had time and aptitude for meditation 011 matters of this
description. Jt liecame my business to apply a portion of
my time to the production and adjustment of such a dis-
course as each of you might have addressed to himself, and
which he must actually address to himself at last, testing
it by his own sense of Truth, if it is really to be addressed
to him at all. A t most, I could thus only lend some assist-
ance to rny hearers, by removing the opposition between
their spiritual condition at the time when the Religious
Sense first developed itself within them, and that in which
they now stand ; by separating distinctly and forcibly this
Religious Sense itself, which is at all times essentially one
and the same, from the casual and diverse limitations
which surrounded its first development, and planting it,
beyond these limitations, into their present state of mental
culture.
There is, in the first place, one good criterion by which
we may arrive at a preliminary solution at least of the
question we have proposed,Whether the considerations
which we have here set forth have been mere empty
verbiage, or ntellectual conceits, serviceable at most to
pass away an idle hour ?or whether they have come
home to something already living within ourselves ?
this, namely,if we have been conscious that our own
long - cherished presentiments and feelings have here
been distinctly spoken forth, and that we ourselves had
previously thought of the matter almost exactly as it
has been here expounded ;then we may be sure that
something already living within us has been touched.
This, I say, is but a preliminary and even but a par-
tially decisive criterion. It is indecisive on the following
account:one man may cordially assent to it 'n whom
only a fugitive scientific or acstlietic pleasure has been
excited, which indeed may manifest itself in a more con
sistent view of the world, or in more inspired productions
CONCLUSION. 281
I'OWILLL'B
THE B L E S S E D LIFE
OB
T H E D O C T R I N E OF RELIGION
LECTURES
DELIVERED AT BERLIN
1806.
o a
( 291 )
CONTEXTS.
LECTURE I.
Life iB Love ; and hence Life and Blessedness are in themselves one and
the name. Distinction of the True Life from mere Apparent Life.
Life and Being are also one and the bamc. Tho True Being is for
ever at one with itself End unchangeable ; the Apparent, on the con-
trary, is changeable and transitory. The True Life loves this One
Being, or God; the Apparent loves the Transitory, or the AVorid.
This Apparent Lifo itself exists, and is maintained in Existence,
only by aspiration towards the E t e r n a l ; this aspiration can never he
satiated in the mere Apparent Life, and hence this Life is Unhlesed ;
the Love of the True Life, on the contrary, is cominus.lly satisfied,
and hence this Lifo is Blessed. The element of True Life is Though t.
LECTUEE II.
The present subject is at bottom Metaphysic, and more especially Onto-
logy ; and this is to be here set forth in a popular way. Refutation
of the objections of the impossibility and unadvi=ableness of such an
exposition,by the necessity there is for attempting it,by investi-
gation of the peculiar nature of the popular discourse in opposition to
the scientific,and by the practical proof that since the introduction
of Christianity this undertaking has at all times been actually accom-
plished. Great hindrances which exist in our own day to the commu-
nication of such Knowledge,- -partly because its strictly determinate
form is opposed both to the propensity towards arbitrary opinion and
to the mere want of opinion which calls itself scepticism;- -partly
because its substance seems ftrange and monstrously paradoxical;
and finally, because unprejudiced personb are led astray by the objec-
tions urged by perverse fanaticism. Genetic exposition of this species
of fanaticism. The accusation of Mysticism which may be expected
from these fanatics against our doctrine noticed. The true object of
this and similar accusations,
292 THE DOCTRINE OF RELIGION.
L E C T U R E ITT.
LECTURE IV.
Exposition of what is essential to the Blessed Life, and what is only condi-
tionally necessary. T h e nswer te the question :" How, since Being
(Styn) ex-ists as it is in itself, namely ^s One, yet in this its Ei-istence
(Dastyn) o c Consciousness, Multiplicity may nevertheless fir id place ?"
only conditionally necessary. Answer to the question, The "as,"
or characterization b y m j a n s of opposition, which arises fr<jm the dis-
tinction thst takes place only in Ex-istence, is an absolute opposition
and t h e principle of all other division. This " a s , " or act of charac-
terization, presupposes an abiding Being that is characterized, whereby
that which in itself is the inward Divine Life is changed info a deter-
minate World. This World is charpcterii.od or formed by means of
this "as,"Reflexionwhich is absolutely tree and independent,
without any end or limit to the process.
LECTURE V.
Principle of a new division in Knowledge, not procee ling immediately on
t h e Object, but only on the Reflexion of the Object, and hence giving
only different views of the One abiding World ; which latter division
CONTENTS. 293
LECTURE YI.
Proof of our previous assertion, that this Doctrine is likewise the Doctrine
of pure Christianity, as contained in the writings of the Apostla John.
Reasons why we especially appeal to this Evangelist. Our hermeneu-
tical principle. In JoLn we hpve to distinguish that which is true, ab-
solutely and in itself, from that which is true only from his temporary
point of view. The first is contained in the Introduction to his Gospel,
up to verse 5. Estimate of this Introduction, not a= the unauthorita-
tive opinion of the Evangelist, but as the immediate doctrine of Jesus.
Exposition of it. The view that possesses a more temporary validity is
the, not metaphysical but merely historical, proposition that the Divine
Existence, in its original purity and without any individual limitation,
has manifested itself in Jesus of Nazareth. Explanation of the dif-
ference o f t h u s e t w o views, and of their union, likewise and expressly
according to the Christian Doctrine Estimate of this historical dogma.
Comprehension of the substance of the whole Gospel from this point
of view, in ?n answer to the questions:What does Jesus teach
respecting himself and his relation to God 1and what respecting
his followers and their relation to him ?
A P P E N D I X TO LECTURE YI.
Farther explanation of the distinction drawn in the preceding lecture be-
tween the Historical and Metaphysical, in relation to the fundamental
dogma of Christianity.
LECTURE Y I I .
More thorough delineation of the mere Apparent Life from its fundamen-
tal principle. A complete exposition of all the possible modes of
man's Enjoyment of himself and of the World is requisite for the de-
2D4 THE DOCTRINE OF RELIGION.
LECTURE V I I I .
More profound exposition of our Doctrine of Being. Everything thct,
arises from mere Ex-istence, as such, comprehended under the name
of Form. In Reality, Being is absolutely inseparable from Form, ami
the Existence of the latter is itself founded in the inward necessity of
the Divine Nature. Application of this principle to the first portion
of Form,Infinity, Application of it to the second portion of Form,
the five-fold division previously set forth. This gives a free and in-
dependent Ego as t h e organic central-point of all Form. Exposition
of the nature of Freedom. Affection of t h e Ego for its personal inde-
pendence, which necessarily disappears as soon as t h e individual
stand-points of mere possible Freedom are destroyed by perfect Free-
dom ; and thus again t h e presence or absence of this Love of Self
g h e s us tiro completely opposite modes of viewing and enjoying the
World. From t h e former arises, in t h e first place, the impulse towards
Sensuous Enjoyment, as the Love of a Self, determined in a particular
way by means of outward objects ; and, in the second place, from t h e
stand-point of Legality, the Love of mere formal Freedom after the
renunciation of t h e Love of objective self-determination. Charac-
terization of the Love from which a Categorical Imperative arises.
Through the annihilation of t h t t Love of Self the Will of tha Ego is
brought into harmony with the Will of God ; and there a n t e s there-
from, in the first place, the stanu-point, previously described as the
third, of the Higher Morality. Relation of this mode of thought to
outward circumstances, particularly i n contrast with the superstition
of sensuous desire.
LECTURE IX.
T h e New World which the H i g h e r Morality, creates within the World of
Sense is the immediate Lite of God himself in Time ;it can only be
CONTEXTS. 295
LECTRUE X.
Comprehensive view of the whole subject from its deepest stand-point.
Being, which is projected forth from itself in the form of the inde-
pendent Ego as the necessary Form of Reflcxiun, is, beyond all Re-
flexion, united with Form by Love alone. This Love is the creator nf
the abstract conception of God ;is the source of all certainty:is
that which, in Life, embraces the Absolute, immediately and without
modification Ly Conception;is that, by which Reflexion, which in
its Ferm contains only the possibility of Infinity, is extended into an
Actual Infinity;finally, is the source of Science. In living and actual
Reflexion this Love manifests itself immediately in the phenomenon
of Mora! Action. Characterization of the Philanthropy of the Moral-
Religiou" Man. Delineation of his Blessedness.
LECTURE XI.
General application of the subject. Hindrances to a thorough communi-
cation between the speaker and hearer :the want of thorough devo-
tion of minil;so-called Scepticism ;the surrounding influences of
the Age. Deeper characterization of theBe influences by the principle
of the mutual acceptation of all men as miserable sinners (Modern
Humanity.) How the good and upright man may rise superior to
these influences.
( 297 )
LECTURE I.
for itself, is there Death; hut only in the deadly gaze of the
dead beholder. That in this error is to be found the origi-
nal source of all other errors, and that through it the world
of truth and the whole spiritual universe is for ever shut
out, we have proved in another- place,at least to those
who were capable of accepting the proof; here, the mere
historical statement of the principle must be sufficient.
On the other hand, as Being and Life are one and the
same, so are Death and Nothingness one and the same. But
there is no real Death and no real Nothingness, as we have
already said. There is, however, an Apparent Life, and
this is the mixture of life and death,' of beingO and nothing- D
LECTURE II.
R E F U T A T I O N OF OBJECTIONS TO P O P U L A R
METAPHYSICAL TEACHING.
i
LTCTUUZ II. 321
* I Above all, the mysticism of Ficlite might astonish us. The cold,
colossal, adamantine spirit, standing erect and clear, like a Cato Major
among degenerate m e n ; fit to have been the teacher of the Stoa, and to have
discoursed of Bearttv and Virtue in the groves of Academe ! Our reader
has seen some words of Fichte's : are these like words of a mystic? . . .
We figure his motionless look, had he heard this charge of
mysticism ! Fur the man rises before us, amid contradiction and debate,
like a granite mountain amid clouds and wind. Ridicule, of the best that
could be commanded, had been already tried against h i m ; but it could
not avail. What was. the wit of a thousand w its to hiin! The cry of a
thousand choughs assaulting that old cliff of g-ranite : seen from the sum-
mit, these, as the.y winged the rnidwai air, showed R.',arce so gross as beetles,
and their cry was seldom even audible."CAI;LYLE.
LECTURE III. 325
LECTURE III.
* The English language does not contain terms hv which the opposition
of the German " Seyn and " JJaseyn" can be expressed with the dis-
tinctness of the original. " Being " and " Existence " are here adopted
as the nearest approach to a correct translation that our language admits
of, although the awkwardness of the expression is obvious, ai.d the strict
philosophical meaning here attached to those terms is unknown in their
commoa use.Tr.
340. THE DOCTRINE OF RELIGION.
* The reMfler will observe that in this and the succeeding lectures the
lvord " Wissen," which is here rendered by " Knowledge," is used in the
sense of " Cognition," to express the conscious act of Knowing,, and not
either the objoct or the result of that act. Tr.
LECTURE rU. 343
merit, for ever lost in and blended with that Unity :tli3
Apparent Life, on the contrary, neither knows nor compre-
hends any Unity whatsoever, but even regards the Mani-
fold and Perishable as the true being, and is satisfied with
it as such. In the second place, this remark imposes upon
us the task of setting forth the true ground why that which,
according to our doctrine, is in itself absolutely Cue, and
remains One in True Life and Thought, does nevertheless
in an appearance, which we must yet admit to be permanent
and iudestruetible, become transmuted into a Manifold and
Changeable;the true ground of this transmutation, I say,
we must at least set forth, and distinctly announce to you,
although the clear demonstration of it may be inaccessible
to popular communication. The exposition of this ground
of the Manifold and Changeable, with the farther appli-
cation of what we have said to-day, shall form the sub-
ject of our next discourse, to which I now respectfully
invite you.
( 34y )
L E C T U R E IV.
EXISTENCE, OR WORLD.
LECTURE Y.
FIVE-FOLD DIVISION IX THE P O S S U M VIEW OF THE
OF RELIGION, O F SCIENCE.
ouslv there, really anil truly, for I see them there, and hear
them,"then let such an one know that we aro not even
disturbed by his confident assurance and inflexible faith;
but that we abide by our categorical, invincible, and abso-
lutely literal :" No, these things are not, precisely be-
cause they may be seen and heard,"and that we can
have nothing more to say to such a person, as one wholly
incapable of understanding or instruction.
The Second view, proceeding from the original division
iri the modes of viewing the World, is that wherein the
World is regarded as a LAW OF ORDER and of equal
rights in a system of reasonable beings. Let this be
understood exactly as I have said it. A Law, and indeed
an ordering and equalizing Law addressed to the freedom
of many, is to this view the pecuMar, self-subsistent
Reality;that by which the World arose, and in which
it has its root. Should any one here wonder how a
Law, which indeed, as such an one would say, is only a
relationa mere abstract conception,can be regarded
as an independent existence, the wonder of such an one
can proceed only from his inability to comprehend any-
thing as real except visible and palpable matter; and
thus he also belongs to that class to wdiom we have
nothing to say. A Law, I say, is to this view of the
World the first thing;that which alone truly is, and
through wdiich everything else that exists first comes into
existence. Freedom and a Human Race is to it the second
thing;which exists only because a Law that is addressed
to freedom necessarily assumes the existence of freedom
and of free beings; and in this system the only foun-
dation and proof of the independence of man is the Moral
Law that reveals itself within him. A Sensible World, fi-
nally, is to it the third thing;and this is only the sphere
of the free action of man, and only exists because free ac-
tion necessarily a&pumes the existence of objects of such
action. As to the sciences that arise cut of this view,it
372. THE DOCTRINE OF RELIGION.
LECTURE TI.
CHRISTIANITY.
i
( 409 )
LECTURE VII.
LEGALITY, STOICISM.
have eyes, and see not; and have ears, and they Lear not."
They, in fact, see not with seeing eyes; for it is a wholly
different thing to comprehend, In the eye and in the
mind, the visible object in its definite limitations, so that
from henceforward we may be able at any moment volun-
tarily to recall it before the spiritual eye precisely as it
had been seen at first,under which condition alone any
one can truly say he has seen it,and to have a shadowy
and formless appearance floating before us in vague un-
certainty until it disappears altogether, leaving behind it
no trace of its existence. H e who has not yet attained
to this vivid comprehension of the objects of Outward
Sense may rest assured that he if yet a far way off from
the infinitely higher Spiritual Life.
In this weary, superficial, anil incoherent condition a
multitude of oppositions and contradictions lie quietly
and tolerantly beside each other. In it there is nothing
discriminated and separated, but all things stand upon
an equality, and have grown up intermingled with each
other. They who live in it hold nothing to be true and
nothing false; they love nothing and hate nothing. For,
in the first place, to such recognition as they might hold
by for ever, to love, to hate, or to any other affection,
there belongs that very energetic self-concentration of
which they are incapable; and, secondly, it is likewise
requisite to such recognition or affection that they
should separate and discriminate the Manifold, in order
to clioosc therefrom the particular object of t h c i ' recog-
nition and affection. B u t how can they accept anything
whatever as established truth, since they would thereby
be constrained to cast aside and reject, as false, all other
possible things that are opposed to i t ; t o which their
tender attachment to both alike will by no means con-
sent ? How can they love anything whatever with their
whole soul, since they would then be under the necessity
of hating its opposite, which their universal love and tol-
LECTURE VII, 413
LECTURE VIII.
LECTU11E IX.
THE following -were the results of our last lecture, and in-
dicate the point at which we now stand :Su long as
man still desires to be something on hib own account,
the Trup Being and Life cannot develop .tself within
biro, and hence he likewise remains inaccessible to
J^essedneas; for al 1 personal, individual Being id but
Non-Being, ami limitation of the True B e i n g ; and, on
that very account, is either obvious Unblessodness,as
in the case of the first standpoint, that of mere Sensuous-
ness, which looks to outward objects only for its enjoy-
ment, whereas no outward object can possibly satisfy
m a n ; o r else, if not actual Unblessedness, yet Just as
little Blessedness, but only mere Apathy, passive indif-
ference, and absolute incapacity for all enjoyment of Life,
a s in the case of the second standpoint, that of meie
formal Legality. On the contrary, as soon as man, by
an act of the Highest Freedom, surrenders and lays aside
his personal, individual freedom and independence, he
becomes a partaker of the Only True Being, the Divine,
458.
THE DOCTRINE OF RELIGION.
purely and solely as work, and for the work's sake, and
whatever of the external world he may accept besides
does not of itself engross his thoughts, but he accepts
it only in order that, renewed and strengthened by it,
he may return to his own true element. And thus
mere natural Genius soars far above both the low de-
sires of the Sensualist and the callous indifferentism of
the Stoic, and carries its possessor through an unin-
terrupted succession of blisful experiences, for which he
needs nothing beyond himself, and which, without pain-
ful eiTort or labour on his part, blossom forth spontane-
ously out of his Life. The Enjoyment of a single hour
passed happily iu the pursuit of A r t or of Science far
outweighs a whole lifetime of Sensuous E n j o y m e n t ;
and before the picture of this Blessedness, the mere
Sensuous Man, could it but be brought home to him,
would sink in envy and longing desire.
In the illustration we have thus adduced, we have as-
sumed a natural Genius as the peculiar source and root
of the Spiritual Enjoyment of Life, as well as of the
scorn of mere Sensuous E n j o y m e n t ; and I have desired,
by means of this single example of the Higher Mo-
rality and its Blessedness, to lead you to a more univer-
sal conception of it. But this Genius,notwithstand-
ing that its object is in itself truly super-sensuous, and
the pure expression of the Godhead, as we showed in
particular by the example of the Beautiful,does yet
desire, and must desire, that its Spiritual Object should
receive a certain representative form and clothing iu the
World of Sense; anil thus Genius docs also desire, in a
certain sense, such a determinate Form of its WTorId and
its environment as in our previous lecture we uncon-
ditionally censured and condemned in the case of Sen-
suousness;and if the self-enjoyment of Genius were
dependent on the accidental realization or non-realization
of this outward result as the aim of its efforts, then
452. THE DOCTRINE OF RELIGION.
L E C T H E X.
t
LECTURE IX. 465
flows forth, softly and gently, from his inward Being, and
issues out into reality, without difficulty or hindrance.
To use the language of one of our great Poets :
* Schiller's " Bas Ideal una das Le'oen," Mem alt's Transujiion.
( 479 )
L E C T U R E XI.
CONCLUSION.
01 THE
DOCTRINE OF KNOWLEDGE
B E R L I N
1810.
/
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
I.
II.
Further: Since it cannot be overlooked by the Doc-
trine of Knowledge that Actual Knowledge does by no
means present itself as a Unity, such as is assumed
above, but as a Multiplicity, there is consequently a
second task imposed upon it,that of setting forth the
ground of this apparent Multiplicity. It of course
understood that this ground is not to be derived from
any outward source, but must be shown to be contained
in the essential Nature of Knowledge itself as s u c h ;
and that therefore this problem, although apparently
two-fold, is yet but one and the same,namely, to set
forth the essential Nature of Knowledge.
III.
This Being out of God cannot, by any means, be a
limited, completed, and inert Be ing, since God himself
OF KNOWLEDGE. 503
IV.
V.
VI.
OF KNOWLEDGE. 505
VII.
\
VIII.
If it shall recognise itself as a Power to which an
unconditional Imperative Is addressed, it must, previous
to this definite recognition, have also recognised itself
generally as a Principle;and since it can only recognise
itself by means of its own self-development, it must
necessarily develop itself before being able to recognise
itself Immediately as the Principle in this development,.
The necessity for this is contained in the intention that
the Imperative shall become visible to i t ; and it may
therefore be named a necessity of the Imperativea shall
of the shallnamely, a necessity of its visibility :con-
sequently this Imperativethis shalllies In the primi-
tive determination of the Power through its Being from
(Jod. Since, when it does not recognise itself generally
as a Principle, it, cannot, in the same position and at the
same time, recognise itself in any more definite form, it
is clear that these two modes of Knowledge are separate
and distinct from each other. We call Knowledge by
means of an immediate invisible principleIntuition.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
t h
514 OUTLINES OF THE DOCTRINE
XIII.
XIV.
1HE END.