![Fichte, Appellation an das Publikum (1799), titlepage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Fichte%2C_Appellation_an_das_Publikum_%281799%29%2C_titlepage.png)
The atheism dispute (german: Atheismusstreit) was an event in German cultural history that lasted between 1798 and 1800 and had an effect on the
German philosophy
German philosophy, here taken to mean either (1) philosophy in the German language or (2) philosophy by Germans, has been extremely diverse, and central to both the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy for centuries, from Gottfried W ...
in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries.
History
In 1798,
Johann Gottlieb Fichte
Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kan ...
was accused of
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
after he had published that year his essay ''Ueber den Grund unsers Glaubens an eine göttliche Weltregierung'' ("On the Ground of Our Belief in a Divine World-Governance"), which he had written in response to
Friedrich Karl Forberg
Friedrich Karl Forberg (30 August 1770, Meuselwitz – 1 January 1848, Hildburghausen) was a German philosopher and classical scholar.
Biography
Born in 1770 in Thuringia, Forberg studied under Karl Leonhard Reinhold at Jena. In 1791 he travel ...
's essay "Development of the Concept of Religion" in his ''Philosophical Journal''. Forberg had claimed that unbelievers could be moral if they act as if an all-seeing and punishing God exists. In his brief essay, Fichte attempted to sketch some of his preliminary ideas on
philosophy of religion
Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...
formulated within his ''
Wissenschaftslehre
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Episte ...
'' (doctrine of science). He characterised God as the living moral order of the world.
"On the Ground of Our Belief in a Divine World-Governance" provoked the publication of an anonymous essay that accused both Fichte and Forberg of atheism and called for Fichte's dismissal from his post at the
University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The un ...
, in the
Duchy of Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the History of Saxony, Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin, Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weima ...
. In the wake of the dispute, many essays were published supporting and opposing Fichte and a defence by Fichte himself.
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (; 25 January 1743 – 10 March 1819) was an influential German philosopher, literary figure, and socialite.
He is notable for popularizing nihilism, a term coined by Obereit in 1787, and promoting it as the prime faul ...
eventually published his famous open letter to Fichte, which saw the first use of the word
nihilism
Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...
and in which he equated philosophy in general and Fichte's transcendental philosophy in particular with "nihilism".
Fichte was forced to resign his position at Jena and to flee to
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, nominally as a result of statements in which he had threatened to resign if he was subjected to official government reprimand. Fichte, however, wrote later: "It is not my atheism which they are persecuting, it is my democratism. The former only provided the excuse". The documents confirm that: The Weimar minister
Christian Gottlob Voigt wrote to his colleague,
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatis ...
that the letter in which Fichte threatened to resign if he were reprimanded by Duke
Carl August had given only the "pretense" that the ministers had sought to "get rid of" Fichte. Saxony and Prussia had threatened to prohibit their subjects from enrolling at the University of Jena if Fichte continued teaching there, and Russia and Austria had already introduced such a boycott. The real reason for those governments' continuing unhappiness was his two 1793 anonymously-published books in which he had showed sympathy with the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
,
''Zurückforderung der Denkfreiheit von den Fürsten Europens, die sie bisher unterdrückten'' and ''Beiträge zur Berichtigung der Urteile des Publikums über die Französische Revolution''. Goethe later retrieved his letters to Voigt regarding Fichte's dismissal and destroyed them.
[Hans Tümmler: Goethes Anteil an der Entlassung Fichtes von seinem Jenaer Lehramt 1799, in Tümmler, ''Goethe in Staat und Politik: Gesammelte Aufsätze'' (Köln, Graz 1964), pp. 132-166, here p. 163.] The University of Jena suffered the loss of many students and some academics after Fichte's dismissal.
See also
*
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
*
Pantheism controversy
The pantheism controversy (german: Pantheismusstreit), also known as ''Spinozismusstreit'' or ''Spinozastreit'', refers to the 1780s debates in German intellectual life that discussed the merits of Spinoza's "pantheistic" conception of God. What ...
Notes
Bibliography
* J. G. Fichte: "On the Ground of Our Belief in a Divine World-Governance"
* F. K. Forberg: "Development of the Concept of Religion"
* Anonymous: "A Father's Letter to his Student Son about Fichte's and Forberg's Atheism
*
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony
pl, Fryderyk August Józef Maria Antoni Jan Nepomucen Alojzy Ksawery
, image = Frederick Augustus I of Saxony by Marcello Bacciarelli (ca 1808-1809).png
, caption = Portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli (1809)
, succession = King of Saxony
, coron ...
: "Saxon Letter of Requisition to the Weimar Court"
*
Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political uni ...
: "Weimar Rescript to the University of Jena"
* J. G. Fichte: "Appeal to the Public" ("Appellation an das Publikum über die durch Churf. Sächs. Confiscationsrescript ihm beigemessenen atheistischen Aeußerungen. Eine Schrift, die man zu lesen bittet, ehe man sie confsicirt"), 1799
*
K. L. Reinhold: "Letter to Fichte"
* J. G. Fichte: "Juridical Defense"
*
Ernst Ludwig II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Ernst Ludwig II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (Coburg, 8 August 1709 – Meiningen, 24 February 1729), was a duke of Saxe-Meiningen.
He was the third but second surviving son of Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his first wife, Dorothea ...
: "Gotha Rescript to the University of Jena"
* Students of the University of Jena: "First Petition to Karl August of Saxony–Weimar–Eisenach"
* Karl August: "First Reply to the University of Jena"
* Students of the University of Jena: "Second Petition to Karl August of Saxony–Weimar–Eisenach"
* Karl August: "Second Reply to the University of Jena"
* J. G. Fichte: "From a Private Letter"
* F. H. Jacobi: "Letter on Fichte"
External links
Johann Gottlieb Fichteat
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. Eac ...
.
{{Johann Gottlieb Fichte
18th-century philosophy
Atheism
German philosophy
Philosophy of religion
Philosophical debates