ABSTRACT
This chapter explores in greater depths the dimension of predestination and predetermination in his moral and religious theory in the late Jena period. It first considers Fichte’s explicit treatment of predestination in 18 of the System of Ethics, where he argues that it is necessary as a condition for the possibility of the perception and reciprocal interaction of other rational beings. It then proceeds to investigate the theme as it plays out in “On Our Belief” and related writings, and Book Three of the Vocation of Humankind. It argues that while predestination merely secures the realizability of the final end in Fichte’s moral theory, it further ensures its realization through an “eternal world plan” in his religious theory.
