Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre of 1794: A Commentary on Part 1

PREFACE

PREFACEI The basis for this commentary on part 1 ofthe Wissenschaftslehre is the fine translation first published in 1970 by Peter Heath and John Lachs. The complete text ofthe Wissenschaftslehre, along with the First and Second Introductions, was reissued in 1982 by Cambridge University Press. I wish to thank Cambridge University Press for their kindness in permitting me to reprint pp. 93-119 ofthat work here. Thanks are also due to the Meiner Verlag for permission to reprint part 1 of Fichte's Grundlage der gesamten Wissenschaftslehre , as also to the Schiller-Nationalmuseum for permission to use a reproduction ofthe pencil drawing by Henschel on the cover. Finally, a word ofpersonal thanks to Margaret Hunt ofPurdue University Press. It is most fortuitous to have a Germanistin as editor when dealing with the text of a German philosopher. I vii ...