Fichte's law of human perfectibility: Towards a non‐state society as a rational and moral idea

Abstract In this article, I discuss how Fichte treats the idea of the non‐state society in several of his works over the course of his philosophical career. In particular, I examine why such an idea is necessary in his ethical system as well as for his theory of the state, and what kind of hope of realisation in the empirical world it admits. Furthermore, I show that the idea of a non‐state society, as the final development of human progress, can only be understood as necessary in conjunction with the human drive to achieve moral perfection through actions beyond individuality. Only by uniting these two poles can the law of perfectibility operate.