Kant, Fichte, and the System of Transcendental Idealism

Summary

KANT

This was the state in which philosophy found itself when Immanuel Kant unexpectedly appeared as its restorer and gave back to it its scientific seriousness, and at the same time its lost dignity.

Before I move on to Kant himself, I want to begin with a general observation, which applies to more or less all human deeds: namely that their real importance, i.e. that their true effects are generally others than those which were intended or which relate to the means by which they were produced. The effect of Kant was indeed exceptional. One cannot be pleased that, fifty years after the appearance of Kant, after we are admittedly at a different point, but one to which we would never have got without him, Kant's contribution is diminished by those who contribute nothing to going beyond Kant. The same can be said of Fichte. It does not take much to pass a dismissive judgement about both, but it would take a lot only to raise philosophy again to the point to which it had been raised by Kant and Fichte. The judgement of history will be that a greater outer and inner battle for the highest possessions of the human spirit was never fought; at no time has the endeavour of the scientific spirit led to deeper experiences and experiences more rich in results than since Kant.