Fichte: The Self and the Calling of Philosophy, 1762-1799 [Hardcover]

Anthony J. La Vopa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 23, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0521791456 | ISBN-13: 978-0521791458 | Edition: 1

In this biographical study of the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte from his birth in 1762 to the crisis in his university career in 1799, Professor La Vopa uses Fichte's life and thought to deepen our understanding of German society, culture, and politics in the age of the French Revolution. This is the first biography to explain thoroughly how Fichte's philosophy relates to his life experiences as reconstructed from the abundant material in his published and unpublished writings and papers. The approach is primarily historical, but should be of interest to philosophers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Anthony La Vopa's biography of the young Fichte is a compelling exploration of the intellectual life and work of a controversial and important German philosopher, but it is much more than that.... La Vopa is a scholar of the eighteenth century, and Fichte provides an excellent opportunity to explore some of the constitutive themes of eighteenth-century Germany.... [The book] provides a new assessment of the formative forces behind and in Fichte's philosophical projects; it opens interesting venues into the study of eighteenth-century German society, and finally, it invites us to rethink the use of biography and historicism as forms and methodologies of historical writing." German Studies Review

"Outstanding" Central European History

Book Description

In this biographical study of the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte from his birth in 1762 to the crisis in his university career in 1799, Professor La Vopa uses Fichte's life and thought to deepen our understanding of German society, culture, and politics in the age of the French Revolution. This is the first biography to explain thoroughly how Fichte's philosophy relates to his life experiences as reconstructed from the abundant material in his published and unpublished writings and papers. The approach is primarily historical, but should be of interest to philosophers.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (April 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521791456
• ISBN-13: 978-0521791458
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,711,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Misses the point, January 20, 2010

By 

Michael Steinberg (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fichte: The Self and the Calling of Philosophy, 1762-1799 (Paperback)

I'm not as put off by La Vopa's academicism as the last reviewer, though I agree that the book's coverage is absurdly narrow. What's really disturbing about this work is that La Vopa's understanding of Fichte's philosophy is impossible to justify. Fichte was not concerned with teaching people how to create a stable sense of self, as La Vopa thinks; he is out to explode all such constructions. And this isn't just the case with his later work. The very notion of the self-positing self and Fichte's teaching that the act of positing is the self makes the self into an ongoing and fluid activity without any fixed content. For an insight into Fichte's intellectual development the reader is far better off with Dieter Henrich's Between Kant and Hegel: Lectures on German Idealism, which treats it only in passing but with unsurpassed insight. For more conventional biography there's always the memoir in William Smith's nineteenth century The Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Tr., With a Memoir of the Author by W. Smith. (There are several reprint editions of this around.) Much of what you'll learn in La Vopa's work is simply wrong, alas.

8 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars academia at its worst, May 18, 2005

By 

J. A. Haverstick (Lancaster, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fichte: The Self and the Calling of Philosophy, 1762-1799 (Hardcover)

The recent publication of biographies of philosophers in English, many by Cambridge, has filled a gap in the literature. Unfortunately this particular item is totally inadequate. First the style is pedantic and long-winded; apparently Mr. La Vopa had a sabbatical to fill up, a publication requirement to meet or just thought he might turn that dissertation into a book. Second, amazingly, it actually ends before Fichte did any of his most significant work! So it is unhelpful both as biography and commentary for any but the most narrowly focused of readers. Thirdly, at $65 it physically fell apart in my hands as I was reading it. I doubt if there are a dozen people in the English-speaking world to whom this book would be of interest.