Fichtes Bestimmung des Menschen und die Rhetorik des Transzendentalismus

Abstract

Abstract The importance of philosophical rhetoric for Fichte is well-known, and in particular how it connects to his concept of the public role of the philosopher. This article examines Fichte’s Die Bestimmung des Menschen (1799) – a popular work in a double sense – in the context of Fichte’s philosophical rhetoric, with a focus on the use of persuasio. Much as Die Bestimmung des Menschen was met with substantial criticism upon its initial publication in German, it proved to be one of the central works in Fichte’s English-language reception in the nineteenth century, where Fichte’s philosophy became integrated into Transcendentalism. Fichte’s work was praised for its aesthetic and persuasive qualities, and it is this element of persuasio which can be traced in readers’ use of Die Bestimmung des Menschen.