IMAGINATION AND REFLECTION: INTERSUBJECTIVITY FICHTE'S: GRUNDLAGE OF 1794
MARTINUS NIJHOFF PHILOSOPHY LIBRARY VOLUMES Other volumes in the series: 1. D. Lamb, Hegel- From Foundation to system. 1980. ISBN 90-247-2359-0 2. LN. Bulhoff, Wilhelm Dilthey - a hermeneutic approach to the study of history and culture. 1980. ISBN 90-247-23604 3. W.J. van der Dussen, History as a science- the philosophyofr.g. Collingwood. 1981. ISBN 90-247-2453-8 4. M. Chatterjee, The Language of philosophy. 1981. ISBN 90-247-2372-8 5. E.-H.W. Kluge, The Metaphysics of Gottlob Frege- an essay in ontological reconstruction. 1980. ISBN 90-24 7-2422-8 6. D. Dutton and M. Krausz, The concept of Creativity in Science and Art. 1981. ISBN 90-247-2418-X 7. F.R. Ankersmit, Narrative Logic. A Semantic Analysis of the Historian's Language. ISBN 90-247-2731-6. 8. T.P. Hohler, Imagination and Reflection: Intersubjectivity. Fichte's Grundlage of 1794. 1982. ISBN 90-247-27324. 9. F.J. Adelmann, SJ. ( ed.), Contemporary Chinese Philosophy. ISBN 90-247-3057-0. 10. E. Ostenfeld, Forms, Matter and Mind. Three Strands in Plato's Metaphysics. ISBN 90-247-3051-1. Series ISBN 90-247-2344-2
IMAGINATION AND REFLECTION: TINTERSUBJECTnnTY FICHTE'S GRUNDLAGE of 1794 by T.P.HOHLER - SPRlNGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Hohler, T. P. Imagination and reflection. Includes index. 1. Fichte, Johann Gottlieb, 1762-1814. Grundlage der gesammten Wissenschsftslehre. 2. Knowledge, Theory of. 3. Imagination. 4. Intersubjectivity. I. Title. II. Series. B2824.H63 1982 193 82-17333 ISBN 978-90-481-8274-9 ISBN 978-94-015-7664-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-015-7664-2 Copyright 1982 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague in 1982 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1982 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Springer-Science+Business Media, B. V.
For Andre Schuwer, dedicated scholar, inspiring teacher, lasting friend
TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE IX INTRODUCTION 1 I. PHILOSOPHY AS A SYSTEMATIC IDEAL 7 Philosophy as Wissenschaftslehre 8 The Methodology 13 This Dialectal Movement as a Whole 20 II. THE TRANSCENDENTAL IMAGINATION 25 The Independent Activity 26 1. The Formal Aspect or Quantitative Idealism 28 2. The Material Aspect or Qualitative Realism 29 3. The Synthetic Unity: Self-awareness as the!-character 30 The Relation or Interplay 33 1. The Relation in General 33 2. The I as Substance 37 3. Summation 40 The Transcendental Imagination: A Synthetic Unity 42 1. Retrieval as a Preliminary Sketch for the Imagination 42 2. The Transcendental Imagination 44 3. A Further Analysis of the Transcendental Imagination 46 Striving and the Future 50 III. THE I AS INTERSUBJECTNE 59 The Deduction of the Other 61 The Foundation of the Deduction of the Other 68 1. The "Deduction" and the Imagination 69 2. The "Deduction of Representation" and lntersubjectivity 72 A Reflective Retrieve 89
Vlll N. THE INTELLECTUAL INTUITION Description of the Intellectual Intuition The Intellectual Intuition as a Starting Point The First Principle as a Starting Point The Grundlage as a Grundlage INTERSUBJECTIVITY AND REFLECTION NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX 93 94 99 106 112 117 121 151 157
PREFACE This work resulted from my interests in several fldldam ental issues of contemporary phenomenology. Originally, their focal point was 1) the role and importance of the subject in philosophical activity and 2) the subject's finitude. To gain a perspective on these issues, a possible approach seemed to lie in the direction of the transcendental imagination and its relation to tim e. This focus on the imagination, of course, led to Fichte's egological philosophy that explicitly centers on the imagination. Here both issues are raised together. The reader of the Fichtean texts cannot for long hesitate to pose the question of intersubjectivity. These three issues-imagination, reflection, and intersubjectivity-formed the basis of the present work. Since such a work could never be completed if it were not for those num erot5 discussions and friendly conversation with friends and colleagues with whom philosophy is always alive, I wish to acknowledge my gratitude specifically to the following people: Professor Andre Schuwer, of Duquesne University, for his encouragement, critical reading of the work, and his comments that have greatly aided me in the writing of the present work; Professor John Sallis, Chairman of the Philosophy Department of Duquesne University, whose interest in Fichte provided invaluable insights and approaches to the issues; Professor Paul Ricoeur, University of Paris and University of Chicago, whose reading and encouragement greatly helped in the work's publication; Professor Samuel Ijsseling, University of Leuven, who introduced me to Martinus Nijhoff Publishers; Professor G. A. De Brie, President of Tijdschrift voor Filosofie, who granted me permission to use my article ''Intellectual Intuition and the Beginning of Fichte's Philosophy" that had been previously published in Tijdschrift voor Filosofie; Ms. Phyllis McLaughlin, whose secretarial and editing assistance made a difficult and tedious task much easier.
X PREFACE All translations from Germ an and French are my own. The German text that I have followed is Johann Gottlieb Fichte's Slimmtliche Werke edited by I. H. Fichte (Berlin, 1845-46) that is readily available in individual volumes from Felix Meiner Verlag and has been reissued as Fichtes Werke by Walter de Gruyter &: Co. (Berlin, 1971). Although the recent English translation of Peter Heath and John Lachs, Fichte: Science of Knowledge with First and Second Introductions (New York, 1970), has been occasionally consulted, my translation differs considerably in key points and terms. T.P.H. Pittsburgh, PA