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JG Fichte and the Atheism Dispute J.G. FICHTE AND THE ATHEISM DISPUTE (1798–1800) This page has been left blank intentionally J.G. Fichte and the Atheism Dispute (1798–1800) Translated by CURTIS BOWMAN Independent Scholar, USA Commentary by YOLANDA ESTES Mississippi State University, USA First published 2010 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 2010 Yolanda Estes and Curtis Bowman Yolanda Estes and Curtis Bowman have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data J.G. Fichte and the Atheism Dispute (1798–1800). 1. Fichte, Johann Gottlieb, 1762–1814. 2. Atheism – History – 18th century. 3. Atheism – History -- 18th century – Sources. I. Estes, Yolanda. II. Bowman, Curtis. 211.8’092–dc22 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Estes, Yolanda. [Selections. English. 2010] J.G. Fichte and the Atheism Dispute, 1798–1800 / Yolanda Estes and Curtis Bowman. p. cm. Includes index. 1. Fichte, Johann Gottlieb, 1762–1814. 2. Forberg, Friedrich Karl, 1770–1846. 3. Atheism. I. Bowman, Curtis. II. Title. B2849.A8E8813 2009 211’.8094309034–dc22 2009034590 ISBN 9780754636885 (hbk) ISBN 9781315590226 (ebk) Contents Abbreviations vii Translator’s Preface ix Commentator’s Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv Chronology: The Atheism Dispute (1798–1800) xvii Commentator’s Introduction: J. G. Fichte, Atheismusstreit, Wissenschaftslehre, and Religionslehre 1 1 J. G. Fichte: “On the Ground of Our Belief in a Divine World- Governance” 17 2 F. K. Forberg: “Development of the Concept of Religion” 31 3 G.: A Father’s Letter to his Student Son about Fichte’s and Forberg’s Atheism 49 4 Friedrich August: “Saxon Letter of Requisition to the Weimar Court” and Karl August: “Weimar Rescript to the University of Jena” 77 5 J. G. Fichte: Appeal to the Public 85 6 K. L. Reinhold: “Letter to Fichte” 127 7 J. G. Fichte: Juridical Defense 145 8 Ernst II Ludwig: “Gotha Rescript to the University of Jena” 205 9 Students of the University of Jena: “First Petition to Karl August of Saxony–Weimar–Eisenach” and Karl August: “First Reply to the University of Jena” and Students of the University of Jena: “Second Petition to Karl August of Saxony–Weimar–Eisenach” and Karl August: “Second Reply to the University of Jena” 215 10 J. G. Fichte: “From a Private Letter” 245 vi J.G. Fichte and the Atheism Dispute (1798–1800) 11 J. G. Fichte: “Concluding Remark by the Editor” 269 German–English Glossary 283 Index 293 Abbreviations AA Kants gesammelte Schriften. (ed.) Königliche Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Berlin: Reimer/de Gruyter, 1900–. ACR Attempt at a Critique of All Revelation. (ed. and trans.) Garrett Green. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978. ASL J. G. Fichte: Die Anweisung zum seligen Leben, oder auch die Religionslehre, 1806. (ed.) F. Medicus. Hamburg: Meiner, 1910. EPW J. G. Fichte: Early Philosophical Writings, 1794–1799. (ed. and trans.) Daniel Breazeale. Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press, 1988. FG Fichte im Gespräch. (ed.) Erich Fuchs, Reinhard Lauth, and Walter Schieche. Stuttgart–Bad Cannstatt: Frommann–Holzboog, 1991. (Citations include volume, page number, and if applicable, item number.) FNR J. G. Fichte: Foundations of Natural Right, 1796–97. (ed.) Frederick Neuhouser, (trans.) Michael Baur. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. FSCP Fichte: The Self and the Calling of Philosophy, 1762–1799. Anthony J. La Vopa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. GA J. G. Fichte Gesamtausgabe der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. (ed.) Reinhard Lauth, Hans Jacob, and Hans Gliwitsky. Stuttgart–Bad Cannstatt: Friedrich Frommann, 1964–. (Citations include part, volume, page number, and if applicable, item number.) IWL J. G. Fichte: Introductions to the Wissenschaftslehre and Other Writings, 1797–1800. (ed. and trans.) Daniel Breazeale. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett, 1994. MPW Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi: The Main Philosophical Writings and the Novel Allwill. (ed. and trans.) George di Giovanni. Montreal/London: McGill–Queen’s University Press, 1994. QA La Querelle de L’athéisme. (ed. and trans.) Jean-Christophe Goddard. Paris: J. Vrin, 1993. SE J. G. Fichte: The System of Ethics According to the Principles of the Wissenschaftslehre, 1798. (ed. and trans.) Daniel Breazeale and Günter Zöller. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. SFA Die Schriften zu J. G. Fichte’s Atheismus-Streit, 1798–1800. (ed.) Hans Lindau. Munich: Georg Müller, 1913. SW Johann Gottlieb Fichtes sämmtliche Werke. (ed.) I. H. Fichte. Berlin: Veit, 1845–46. VM J. G. Fichte: The Vocation of Man, 1800. (ed. and trans.) Peter Preuss. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, 1987. viii J.G. Fichte and the Atheism Dispute (1798–1800) WLNM J. G Fichte: Foundations of Transcendental Philosophy (Wissen- schaftslehre) nova methodo, 1796/99. (ed. and trans.) Daniel Breazeale. Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press, 1992. WLNM [K] J. G. Fichte: Wissenschaftslehre nova methodo, Kollegnachschrift Chr. Fr. Krause, 1798/99 [“Krause Nachschrift”]. Hamburg: Meiner, 1982. WLNM [H] J. G. Fichte: Wissenschaftslehre nach den Vorlesungen von Hr. Pr. Fichte, 1796/97 [“Halle Nachschrift”]. In GA, IV, 2, pp. 1–267. Commentator’s Note: In this volume, when an English translation of a German work is cited, information for the corresponding German edition of the work is supplied in parentheses. For example: VM (GA, I, 6, pp. 189–309) and J. G. Fichte: “On the Ground of Our Belief in a Divine World-Governance” (GA, I, 5, pp. 347–57). All translator–editor’s interpolations are enclosed by square brackets, i.e. [], and all commentator–editor’s interpolations are enclosed by scroll brackets, i.e. {}. Fichte’s own notes, which appear as endnotes to the relevant chapters, are marked with asterisks, i.e. *, whereas editors’ notes are marked by superscripted numbers. All biblical references are to the King James Version (Authorized Version) of the Bible. The editors have retained within the texts of the translations the original page numbers used by the various participants in the atheism dispute, but in the footnotes they have also included the corresponding page numbers, if any, of this book as well as the page numbers of the relevant modern German editions. Translator’s Preface In 1997 I suggested to Yolanda Estes that she and I collaborate on a volume of translations and commentary devoted to Fichte and the atheism controversy. We quickly got under way, drafting the requisite proposal and beginning the search for an interested publisher. Unfortunately, however, several years passed before we could truly focus on the project. Besides the usual roadblocks that academic life throws in the way of well-meaning scholars, our personal lives contributed more than their usual share of obstacles. I was able to concentrate on my scholarly work only after I left academia and became an independent scholar in 2003. At that time, however, I had other projects to finish first. Once they were out of the way, I was able to focus on the task of translating. Yolanda and I then made steady, though occasionally leisurely, progress on this book. As a result, most of the work was done during the past four years. The chief reason for the slow pace of this project has been the difficulty of the German texts that we decided to include in this collection. Given that the atheism controversy involved numerous participants, there is no single prose style that cuts across all of the works that I have translated. Furthermore, much of the original German can all too frequently strike readers of modern German as not only confusing but also as positively ungrammatical. Sometimes, unfortunately, it can even border on the unintelligible. All that a translator can do in such a situation is to do his best to produce translations that modern readers, who may or may not have a background in the various debates that were taken up in the atheism controversy, will not find completely bewildering at first glance, so that in time they can come to a greater appreciation of these works after what may prove to be a difficult first reading. With such a goal in mind, I have broken up most of the long sentences found in the original German texts. (There have been times, though, when the exigencies of the German language have prevented me from doing this.) I admit that I did this somewhat reluctantly, since it seems to me that the long periods of German philosophical prose tend to have the logical function of demarcating what the author regards as a complete thought. But it must be admitted that greater readability results from such a policy. Translation always involves trade-offs, and this is one that I was eventually, though not initially, willing to make. I have frequently added quotation marks to signal that an author is not speaking in his own voice. I resorted to this expedient quite often in Fichte’s essays, since he repeatedly finds himself obliged to summarize his opponents’ views before subjecting them to his own special brand of withering criticism. Since many readers would be confused by such abrupt changes of voice, I put these passages in quotation marks. x J.G. Fichte and the Atheism Dispute (1798–1800) It just so happens that much of what I have translated, despite its philosophical and religious depths, is not especially technical in nature, and thus no single vocabulary is used throughout all of the selections included in this volume.
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