ABSTRACT

Divine World-Governance begins by clarifying Fichte's assumptions about philosophical proof and religious belief, and by rejecting certain misunderstandings about philosophical proof of religious belief. Fichte distinguishes between an ordinary proof of religious belief, which tries to demonstrate the truth of that belief, and a transcendental deduction of religious belief, which tries to show the origin of that belief. Fichte defines God as a divine world-governance, or a moral world order: an efficient law or power whereby morally right actions achieve a morally just end. A moral world order, as something supernatural, or intelligible, cannot be grounded on the concept of the natural, or sensible, world but must be grounded on some concept of a supernatural, or intelligible world. Such a concept, however, is included in every act of the moral consciousness. The moral law commands that people freely determine our will in accordance with duty.