The Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, 2 vols. Tr. William Smith. Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 1999. Reprinted, with a new introduction by Daniel Breazeale, from the 4th edition, London: Trübner & Co., 1889.
In 1999 Thoemmes Continuum (formerly Thoemmes Press) reprinted the 4th edition of the two volume collection first published by William Smith in the 1840s. The set, which ranges from the beginning to the end of Fichte's philosophical career, contains some of his most accessible, least technical writings. As the title indicates, they are of a popular nature: that is, they are works intended primarily for an educated, non-scholarly audience. In addition to the translations of Fichte's works, some of which have never been rendered into English anywhere but in this collection, there is also a biography of Fichte by Smith himself. Daniel Breazeale, the renowned Fichte scholar, has written an introduction for the reprint edition that places these writings, especially the ones from Fichte's Berlin period found in the second volume, in the context of his overall project, the so-called Wissenschaftslehre.
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The contents of the two volumes are as follows: Volume 1
Volume 2
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William Smith was an able translator of Fichte's writings, and so readers of these two volumes need not worry about the fact that the texts contained in them appeared a century and a half ago. Smith constantly strove to improve these translations, revising them repeatedly as new editions came out. Some of his translation choices might not win the approval of every latterday Fichte scholar, but his renderings are careful, eloquent, and lucid. As translations, they stand up well; as literature, they excel.
The chief attractions of the two volumes are the writings from Fichte's Berlin period. This phase of his career has received much less attention in the English-speaking world than the earlier Jena period. It is to be hoped that this reprint edition will serve to introduce more readers to this unjustly neglected phase of Fichte's career. Most contemporary readers will be drawn to On the Nature of the Scholar and its Manifestations, The Characteristics of the Present Age, and The Way Towards the Blessed Life or The Doctrine of Religion. After all these years, Smith retains his monopoly on English translations of these three works. This fact alone gives Fichte's growing number of devotees reason to be grateful to Thoemmes Press for the work that it has done in reprinting these books.
Professor Daniel Breazeale contributed a helpful introduction, written with his usual expertise. Since the books are now out of print, please look for them in libraries. Thoemmes Continuum might reprint them again, if there is enough interest among readers.
This page last modified on June 26, 2004.