''Foundations of the Science of Knowledge'' (german: Grundlage der gesammten Wissenschaftslehre) is a 1794/1795 book by the German philosopher
Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Based on lectures Fichte had delivered as a professor of philosophy 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 ...
, it was later reworked in various versions. The standard ''Wissenschaftslehre'' was published in 1804, but other versions appeared posthumously.
[ Scruton 2000. p. 208.]
Ideas
''Science of Knowledge'' has first established Fichte's independent philosophy. The contents of the book, which were divided into eleven sections, were crucial in the way the thinker has grounded philosophy as - for the first time - a part of
epistemology
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.
Epis ...
. In the book, Fichte has also claimed that an "experiencer" must be tacitly aware that he is experiencing in order to lead to "noticing".
This articulated his view that an individual's experience is essentially the experiencing of the act of experiencing so that his so-called "Absolutely Unconditioned Principle" of all experience is that "''the I posits itself''".
Reception
In 1798, the German romantic
Friedrich Schlegel
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel (; ; 10 March 1772 – 12 January 1829) was a German poet, literary critic, philosopher, philologist, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figure ...
identified the ''Wissenschaftslehre'', together 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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
and
Johann Wolfgang von 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 t ...
's ''
Wilhelm Meister
''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' ( ger, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1795–96.
Plot
The eponymous hero undergoes a journey of self-realization. The story centers upon Wilhelm' ...
'', as "the most important trend-setting events (''Tendenzen'') of the age."
Michael Inwood believes that the work is close in spirit to the early works of
Edmund Husserl
, thesis1_title = Beiträge zur Variationsrechnung (Contributions to the Calculus of Variations)
, thesis1_url = https://fedora.phaidra.univie.ac.at/fedora/get/o:58535/bdef:Book/view
, thesis1_year = 1883
, thesis2_title ...
, including the ''Ideas'' (1913) and the ''
Cartesian Meditations
''Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology'' (french: Méditations cartésiennes: Introduction à la phénoménologie) is a book by the philosopher Edmund Husserl, based on four lectures he gave at the Sorbonne, in the Amphithéatre ...
'' (1931).
[ Inwood 2005. p. 410.]
The ''Wissenschaftslehre'' has been described by
Roger Scruton
Sir Roger Vernon Scruton (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher and writer who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of traditionalist conservative views.
Editor from 1982 ...
as being both "immensely difficult" and "rough-hewn and uncouth".
See also
*
Foundationalism
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
1794 non-fiction books
Books by Johann Gottlieb Fichte
Epistemology literature
Philosophy of science literature
{{philo-book-stub