ABSTRACT
J. G. Fichte theory of gender relations, as developed in his Foundations of Natural Right According to the Principles of the Wissenschaftslehre and also maintained in the Sittenlehre, is not only philosophically and historico-culturally interesting. In the Sittenlehre, Fichte differentiates the natural drive in terms of whether human beings are conscious of it or not – as in hunger and digestion respectively. Fichte perverts the demand of political co-determination into a mere pretence or illusory demand, first, because it would, in any case, already be realized and, second, because it would conceal the pure vanity of the woman to want to validate something in the public domain. Fichte is aware of the objections against this view: it neglects the intellectual capacity of women, keeps them in a state of innocence and denies them access to the arts and sciences. Fichte undermines his own universal approach with naturalism – at least, with respect to the female half of humanity.
