Man in Fichte's system of philosophy

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Fichte evaluates man's role and position. For Fichte, man is the goal of philosophy and the purpose of the Universe. At the centre Fichte's reflections is the assertion of man's autonomy. In this respect, Fichte exceeds the confines even of Kant's thinking who insisted on the autonomy of human reason alone, whereas Fichte – on that of man as a whole. From several definitions of man given by Fichte it becomes obvious that, on the one hand, man is a natural being created by nature in its unhurried motion, while on the other hand, man holds sway over nature by changing it and becoming its master. Incidentally, no thinker approaches Fichte's ideas on man as the master of nature as close as Marx. The highest faculty in man is, according to Fichte, his involvement in moral law (which is also evidence that in his system activity receives an idealist interpretation). The moral law is at the same time the supreme Will on which all finite wills depend. It prompts man to desire something, in the first place to desire to change all that exists. This is the point where the creative faculty is turned on, which has to be formed by the new education. Man creates new ideal forms and then implements them in reality by means of activity. It is for the sake of activity that cognition exists which, in fact, is no more than a knowledge of knowledge. This is how man transforms the world.