Anton Ivanenko. Is “kauteresieren” curative? On Hegel’s criticism of Fichte’s philosophy. Vol. 2. No. 1/2. 2017

Publication Details

Is “kauteresieren” curative? On Hegel’s criticism of Fichte’s philosophy
Title in the language of publication: Целебно ли «cauteresieren»? О критике Гегелем философии Фихте
Author:
Anton Ivanenko
PhD in Philosophy, Associate Professor of the Institute of Philosophy of the Saint Petersburg State University.
Address: 7/9 Universitetskaya emb., St. Petersburg 199034, Russia.
Issue:
P. 130–136.
Language: Russian
Document type: Research Article (introdaction)
 
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Abstract

The article is an introduction to the first edition of a translation into Russian of the fourth and final part of G. W. F. Hegel’s work “Faith and Knowledge or the Reflective Philosophy of Subjectivity in the complete range of its forms as Kantian, Jacobian, and Fichtean Philosophy” (“Glauben und Wissen oder die Reflexionsphilosophie der Subjektivität in der Vollständigkeit ihrer Formen als Kantische, Jacobische und Fichtesche Philosophie”). In this part of his work, Hegel criticizes the philosophy of J. G. Fichte, which, by his definition, is the third form of “reflexive philosophy of subjectivity”, while the first two represent the teachings of I. Kant and F. Jacobi. According to Hegel, Fichte’s philosophy shares with them the position of “moral and scientific empiricism” with its results being identical to eudemonism and the spirit of the Enlightenment. However, Fichte’s philosophy of history, his teachings on the state and morals, imperfect as they might seem, do not meet the kind of assessment Hegel exposes, whereas Fichte’s doctrine of religion, contrary to the general Hegelian paradigm, does not extol the latter over philosophy. This discrepancy is based on that Fichte, while believing the knowledge to be of secondary importance, what Hegel points out, matches it not against the faith, but against the intellectual contemplation, for the root cause of everything can be only something that is a cause of itself. It means that the cognition of the root cause might be solely its self-recognition with an absolute identity of the cognizer and cognized. Due to this, Fichte considers such kind of cognition the intellectual contemplation completely excluding any distinction and mediation. Hegel is right about Fichte’s philosophy in that the latter failed to understand the true relationship between spontaneity and mediation, but he erred in assessing his general position as subjectivism, which led him largely to an incorrect assessment of the philosophical and ideological consequences of Fichte’s philosophical attitude.

Keywords

Hegel, Fichte, faith, knowledge, absolute I, subjectivism, empiricism.

References 

Fichte I. G. (1993a) “Grundlage des gesamten Wissenschaftslehre”. Fichte I. G. Sochineniya v dvukh tomakh. T. 1 [Works in two volumes. Vol. 1]. St. Petersburg: Mifril: 65–337. (in Russian).

Fichte I. G. (1993б) “Die Grundzüge des gegenwärtigen Zeitalters”. Fichte I. G. Sochineniya v dvukh tomakh. T. 2 [Works in two volumes. Vol. 2]. St. Petersburg: Mifril: 359–617. (in Russian).

Hegel G. W. F. (1969) “Hegel an Hufnagel, 30. XII. 1801”. Briefe von und an Hegel. Hg. v. J. Hoffmeister. 3. Aufl. 4 Bände. Bd. 1: 1785–1812. Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag: 64–67.

Hegel G. W. F. (1973) “Pis’ma” [Briefwechsel]. Hegel G. W. F. Raboty raznykh let. V 2 t. T. 2 [Miscellaneous Works in 2 vol. Vol. 2]. Moscow: Mysl’ (Filosofskoe nasledie. T. 40 [Philosophical Heritage. Vol. 40]): 211–528. (in Russian).

Hegel G. V. F. (1994) Vorlesungen über die Geschichte der Philosophie. V 3-kh kn. Kn. 3 [In 3 vol. Vol. 3]. St. Petersburg: Nauka (Slovo o sushchem [Word on the Being]). (in Russian).

Hegel G. V. F. (2016) “Glauben und Wissen oder die Reflexionsphilosophie der Subjektivität in der Vollständigkeit ihrer Formen als Kantische, Jacobische und Fichtesche Philosophie” (part one). ESSE: Filosofskie i teologicheskie issledovaniya. T. 1. № 1 [ESSE: Studies in philosophy and theology. Vol. 1. No. 1]: 98–132. (in Russian).

Ivanenko А. А. (2012) Philosophy as science of knowledge: the genesis of scientific method in the works of J. G. Fichte. St. Petersburg: Vladimir Dal. (in Russian).

Schelling F. W. J. (2014) Darstellung meines Systems der Philosophie. St. Petersburg: Nauka (Slovo o sushchem [Word on the Being]). (in Russian).

© Anton Ivanenko, 2017

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