Abstract

Marked by a lucid mixture of historical detail and analytical acumen, this study of the earliest stages of Fichte’s philosophical career offers much to our understanding of the sources and significance of Fichte’s core commitments. With pointed reference to important early texts, Martin argues that Fichte’s idealism is best understood not as an attempt to disclose the ontological ground of all being in an infinite subjectivity but, instead, as an incisive challenge to naturalism in the theory of representation.