Fichte, Hegel, and the Life and Death Struggle

TY - JOUR

T1 - Fichte, Hegel, and the Life and Death Struggle

AU - Clarke, James Alexander

N1 - © 2013 BSHP. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Several commentators have argued that Hegel’s account of ‘self-consciousness’ in Chapter IV of the Phenomenology of Spirit can be read as an ‘immanent critique’ of Fichte’s idealism. If this is correct, it raises the question of whether Hegel’s account of ‘recognition’ in Chapter IV can be interpreted as a critique of Fichte’s conception of recognition as expounded in the Foundations of Natural Right. A satisfactory answer to this question will have to provide a plausible interpretation of the ‘life and death struggle’ as an immanent critique of Fichte’s account of recognition. This paper aims to provide such an interpretation. The first part of the paper provides a discussion of Fichte’s account of recognition that emphasizes its ‘epistemic’ concerns. The second part argues that Hegel’s account of the ‘life and death struggle’ can be read plausibly as a critique of Fichte’s account of recognition.

AB - Several commentators have argued that Hegel’s account of ‘self-consciousness’ in Chapter IV of the Phenomenology of Spirit can be read as an ‘immanent critique’ of Fichte’s idealism. If this is correct, it raises the question of whether Hegel’s account of ‘recognition’ in Chapter IV can be interpreted as a critique of Fichte’s conception of recognition as expounded in the Foundations of Natural Right. A satisfactory answer to this question will have to provide a plausible interpretation of the ‘life and death struggle’ as an immanent critique of Fichte’s account of recognition. This paper aims to provide such an interpretation. The first part of the paper provides a discussion of Fichte’s account of recognition that emphasizes its ‘epistemic’ concerns. The second part argues that Hegel’s account of the ‘life and death struggle’ can be read plausibly as a critique of Fichte’s account of recognition.

M3 - Article

SN - 1469-3526

VL - 22

SP - 81

EP - 103

JO - British Journal for the History of Philosophy

JF - British Journal for the History of Philosophy

IS - 1

ER -