Fichte’s Metaphysics: An Interpretation in the Light of Metapraxis

The aim of this paper is to examine J. G. Fichte’s concern that ‘philosophy itself has not yet been elevated to the rank of a self-evident science, despite the efforts of the most perspicacious men,’ to clarify the alternative he proposes, and to interpret that alternative from an educational perspective. According to Fichte, I. Kant’s philosophy—brilliant though it is— remains at the level of a propaedeutic. Kant’s key notion of the a priori reveals that the transcendental Idea is the logical presupposition of experience, yet simultaneously conceals the fact that the Idea is established only in the act of its realization. Fichte’s concept of Tathandlung (‘F/act’) directly targets this problem. If the Idea is treated apart from the act that realizes it, it can be mistaken for an already-given fact, and that mistake leads to what Fichte calls an utter absence of spirit. Tathandlung is therefore a revolutionary idea that explains how a metaphysical fact such as the a priori is identified and established through the very act that realizes it. Fichte’s idea is inseparable from his educational concern for the becoming of fully realized human beings, and his metaphysics can be seen as an exemplary expression of that concern. Fichte’s metaphysics, despite its limitations, reminds us that philosophy and education are not two separate undertakings—in short, that philosophy is itself a form of education.