Speeches to the German nation
The speeches to the German nation (EA Berlin 1808) is the most powerful and probably best-known work of the philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte . It is based on lectures that Fichte held in Berlin on December 13, 1807 at the time of the French occupation , and should be seen as a continuation of the main features of the present age .
The speeches try to arouse a sense of nationality and aim at the establishment of a German nation-state that would succeed the extinct Holy Roman Empire and emancipate itself from French rule. Only the Germans would therefore have a “pure language” that enabled them to think deeply and thoroughly. He calls for a trade policy that is independent of foreign policy, general conscription and a “national education” which “completely destroys freedom of will” in order to shape the individual in their favor.
As a result , they were imitated by almost every ideology of nationalism , which is why they have fallen into disrepute, although the philosophical content was often less taken into account. Essentially, it consists in an essentialism , namely with regard to the alleged "German essence". Despite their formerly widespread use, they were seldom read and even less understood, not least because of Fichte's baroque language and metaphysical conceptualization.
expenditure
- Johann Gottlieb Fichte: Speeches to the German Nation. Realschulbuchhandlung, Berlin 1808 ( digitized version and full text in the German text archive ).
- Erich Fuchs et al. (Ed.): Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Complete edition of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Part 1: Works, Volume 10: Works 1808–1812. Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2005, ISBN 978-3-7728-2170-7 .
- Wilhelm G. Jacobs, Peter L. Austria (Ed.): Works in 2 volumes. Volume 2, Frankfurt a. M. 1997, ISBN 3-618-63073-5 , pp. 539-788.
- Johann Gottlieb Fichte: Speeches to the German Nation. 1808. In: Philosophische Bibliothek, Volume 204. 5th edition. Meiner, Hamburg 1978.
Secondary literature
- Emil Lask : Fichte's idealism and history. Tübingen 1914 (first: 1902).
- Bertrand Russell : The Spiritual Fathers of Fascism. In: Bertrand Russell: Philosophical and Political Essays. Reclam, 1935, p. 115ff.
- Micha Brumlik: Secret State and Human Rights - Fichte's Anti-Semitism of Reason. In: ders., Deutscher Geist und Judenhaß. The relationship of philosophical idealism to Judaism. Luchterhand, Munich 2000, pp. 75-131.
- Stefan Reiss: Fichte's “Speeches to the German Nation” or: From I to We. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2006.
- Manfred Voigts: We should all become little spruces! The enemy of Jews JG Fichte as a prophet of the cultural Zionists. Philo Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin 2003.