ABSTRACT

The German philosopher, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814), has long been recognized as an important and original figure in the history of philosophy and Western thought and as a seminal influence upon the Romantic tradition. The essays in this book focus on Fichte's contributions in political theory as set out in his Foundations of Natural Right. Fichte was notorious as a political radical and his ideas in in political theory proved to be decisive influences upon his contemporaries and of striking relevance to current political dispute. This volume of essays, which examine such issues as Fichte as a social contract theorist, his theory of gender relations and his theories on punishment and the criminal law among many other topics, remedies what has been a striking lacuna in the existing scholarly literature.

chapter Chapter 1|10 pages

Is Fichte a Social Contract Theorist?

chapter Chapter 2|15 pages

Fichte’s Impossible Contract

chapter Chapter 3|19 pages

Recognition, Right, and Social Contract

chapter Chapter 8|10 pages

Fichte’s Materialism

chapter Chapter 16|13 pages

Fichte, Heidegger and the Nazis