The Closed Commercial State

262 Pages·2012·1.03 MB·English

by  J. G. Fichte

Also published by SUNY PRESS PHILOSOPHY F Also published by SUNY PRESS
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The Closed Commercial State h
THE PHILOSOPHER’S VOICE t Y THE SCIENCE OF KNOWING
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Philosophy, Politics, and Language in the J. G. Fichte’s 1804 Lectures on the
P J. G. Fichte
Nineteenth Century J. G. Fichte O Wissenschaftslehre
Andrew Fiala S J. G. Fichte
O Translated and with an Interpretive Essay
Explores the relationship between philosophy Translated and with an Introduction by
Translated and with an Interpretive Essay by Anthony Curtis Adler L
and politics in the work of Kant, Fichte, Hegel, T I by Anthony Curtis Adler Walter E. Wright
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and Marx. P The first English translation of Fichte’s second
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“Fiala’s engaging style is itself a useful aid to the Appearing for the first time in a complete English translation, The Closed Commercial State L set of 1804 lectures on the Wissenschaftslehre.
reader as he revisits and restates the positions of represents the most sustained attempt of J. G. Fichte, the famed author of The Doctrine of e A
these philosophers to bring out both differences Science, to apply idealistic philosophy to political economy. In the accompanying interpre- NT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FICHTE’S
and similarities among them.” tive essay, Anthony Curtis Adler challenges the conventional scholarly view of The Closed C E AND SCHELLING’S SYSTEM OF
— Journal of Speculative Philosophy Commercial State as a curious footnote to Fichte’s thought. The Closed Commercial State, N PHILOSOPHY
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which Fichte himself regarded as his “best, most thought-through work,” not only attests o T An English Translation of G. W. F. Hegel’s
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FIGURING THE SELF to a life-long interest in economics, but is of critical importance to his entire philosophical Differenz des Fichte’schen und Schelling’schen
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Subject, Absolute, and Others in Classical project. Carefully unpacking the philosophical nuances of Fichte’s argument and its complex s Systems der Philosophie
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German Philosophy relationship to other texts in his oeuvre, Adler argues that The Closed Commercial State e G. W. F. Hegel
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Edited by David E. Klemm and presents an understanding of the nature of history, and the relation of history to politics, that d R Translated and Edited by H. S. Harris and
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Günter Zöller differs significantly from the teleological notions of history advanced by Schelling and later Walter Cerf
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Provides a systematic overview of the topic of self Hegel. This critical scholarly edition includes a German-English glossary, annotations, and O In this essay, Hegel attempted to show how
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in classical German philosophy, focusing on the page references to both major German editions. P Fichte’s Science of Knowledge was an advance
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period around 1800 and covering Kant, Fichte, o from the position of Kant in the Critique of Pure
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Hölderlin, Novalis, Schelling, Schleiermacher, Reason, and how Schelling (and incidentally
“Adler’s remarkable interpretive essay makes a substantial and original contribution m T
and Hegel. N Hegel himself) had made a further advance from
to Fichte studies in its own right. It should be required reading for everyone working on
O the position of Fichte.
Fichte’s philosophy.”
FRIEDRICH SCHLEGEL AND THE m C
— Daniel Breazeale, University of Kentucky
EMERGENCE OF ROMANTIC N THE PHILOSOPHICAL RUPTURE
PHILOSOPHY e I BETWEEN FICHTE AND SCHELLING
ANTHONY CURTIS ADLER is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at the S
Elizabeth Millán-Zaibert E Selected Texts and Correspondence
The origins of early German Romanticism and the Underwood International College of Yonsei University, South Korea. r RI The Closed (1800–1802)
philosophical contributions of the movement’s c E Edited, Translated, and with an Introduction
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most important philosopher. A volume in the SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy i by Michael G. Vater and David W. Wood
“…Millán-Zaibert makes a significant and Dennis J. Schmidt, editor a NY Correspondence and texts by Fichte and Schelling
positive contribution to the growing list of l U illuminate their thought and the trajectory of
Commercial
contemporary scholarship in the area of early S their philosophical falling out.
German romantic philosophy … [she] does an S E
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excellent job of engaging Schlegel’s thought in t T RECOGNITION
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the context of Kant, Spinoza, Fichte, Hegel, and Fichte and Hegel on the Other
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other heavyweight philosophers.” t I State Robert R. Williams
— Kinesis e E Full-length, detailed treatment of the idealist
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concept of intersubjectivity, or recognition.
SUNY U
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P R E S S O
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NEW YORK PRESS
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adler dj new printer.indd 1 4/13/12 8:16:05 AM
The Closed Commercial State
SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy
—————
Dennis J. Schmidt, editor
The Closed Commercial State
J. G. Fichte
Translated and with an Interpretive Essay by
Anthony Curtis Adler
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2012 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval
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without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production by Kelli W. LeRoux
Marketing by Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb, 1762–1814.
[Geschlossene Handelsstaat. English]
The closed commercial state / J.G. Fichte ; translated and with an
interpretive essay by Anthony Curtis Adler.
p. cm. — (SUNY series in contemporary Continental philosophy)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-4021-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. State, The. 2. Commercial policy. I. Adler, Anthony Curtis. II. Title.
JC181.F6 2012
320.1—dc22 2011014159
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my parents

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations and Editorial Apparatus xi
Translator’s Introduction xiii
Interpretive Essay: Fichte’s Monetary History 1
Johan Gottlieb Fichte’s The Closed Commercial State 73
Fichte’s Table of Contents 75
Translator’s Notes 203
German-English Glossary 215
Index 229

Acknowledgments
Work on this translation was spread over many years, and it would be
impossible to thank all the teachers, colleagues, and friends who contributed
to its realization. Wilhelm Metz, in an extraordinary proseminar at the
University of Freiburg, introduced me to the wonder of Fichte’s thought.
Peter Fenves encouraged me to take on this project while working on my
dissertation at Northwestern University, and Sam Weber and Terry Pinkard
offered crucial support along the way. Géza von Molnár, who died suddenly
and tragically on July 27, 2001, spent several hours helping me figure out
some of Fichte’s more unusual idioms. Paul North read an early draft of the
introduction and offered valuable criticism and invaluable encouragement,
and Melissa Zinkin, Markus Hardtmann, Helen Lee, Chad Denton, Karin
Schutjer, Michael Kim, Gabe Hudson, John Frankl, Kil-Pyo Hong, Paul
Tonks, Aljoša Pužar, Mason Richey, Sarah Brett-Smith, Saein Park, Eric
Fuchs, and Michael Weitz all offered advice, guidance, and assistance at
various stages of the project. Yongkyung Chung and Jeehye Kim assisted
with the preparation of the index. A very great debt of gratitude goes to
Tom Rockmore, for helping find a home for this project, and also to Daniel
Breazeale, Isaac Nakhimovsky, and Chris Pierson for the interest they
have shown in it. Andrew Kenyon, of SUNY Press, has been extremely
supportive of this project from the beginning, and has done a wonderful job
shepherding me through the process of publication. I am also very grateful
to the anonymous referee at SUNY for his or her extraordinarily insightful,
helpful, and careful comments, and to Dennis J. Schmidt, the series editor.
I feel fortunate to have found an academic home at Yonsei University's
Underwood International College. For these last six years, my students have
become an integral part of my life, and their enthusiasm and curiosity, more
than anything, has kept me going through the hard slog.
Finally, I would like to thank Hwa Young Seo, whose path, different
from my own, is also my own.
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