But it
would still be difficult for thee at present even to guess at
my true and perfect mode of thought.
would still be difficult for thee at present even to guess at
my true and perfect mode of thought.
Fichte - Nature of the Scholar
I am absolutely conscious of myself, because I am this
I,--myself; and that partly as a practical being,
partly as an intelligence. The first consciousness is
Sensation, the second Intuition--unlimited space.
2. I cannot comprehend the unlimited, for I am finite. I
therefore set apart, in thought, a certain portion of
universal space, and place the former in a certain re-
lation to the latter.
3. The measure of this limited portion of space is the ex-
tent of my own sensibility, according to a principle
which may be thus expressed :--Whatever affects me
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THE VOCATION OF MAN.
in such or such a manner is to be placed, in space, in
such or such relations to the other things which
-->affect me.
The properties or attributes of the object proceed from
the perception of my own internal state; the space which it
fills, from intuitive contemplation. By a process of thought,
both are conjoined; the former being added to the latter.
It is so, assuredly, as we have said before:--that which is
merely a state or affection of myself, by being transferred or
projected into space becomes an attribute of the object; but
it is so projected into space, not by intuition, but by thought,
by measuring, regulating thought. Not that this act is to
be regarded as an intellectual discovery or creation; but
only as a more exact definition, by means of thought, of
something which is already given in sensation and intuition,
independent of all thought.
Spirit. Whatever affects me in such or such a manner is
to be placed in such or such relations:--thus dost thou rea-
son in defining and arranging objects in space. But does
not the declaration that a thing affects thee in a certain
manner, include the assumption that it affects thee gene-
rally?
I. Undoubtedly.
Spirit. And is any presentation of an external object pos-
sible, which is not in this manner limited and defined in
space?
/. No; for no object exists in space generally, but each
one in a determinate portion of space.
Spirit. So that in fact, whether thou art conscious of it or
not, every external object is assumed by thee as affecting
thyself, as certainly as it is assumed as filling a determinate
portion of space?
/. That follows, certainly.
Spirit. And what kind of presentation is that of an object
affecting thyself?
I. Evidently a thought; and indeed a thought founded
on the principle of causality already mentioned. I see now,
still more clearly, that the consciousness of the object is en-
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
301
grafted on my self-consciousness in two ways,--partly by in-
tuition, and partly by thought founded on the principle of
causality. The object, however strange it may seem, is at
once the immediate object of my consciousness, and the re-
sult of deliberate thought.
Spirit. In different respects, however. Thou must be
capable of being conscious of this thought of the object?
I. Doubtless; although usually I am not so.
Spirit. Therefore to thy passive state, thy affection, thou
dost superadd in thought an activity out of thyself, such as
thou hast above described in the case of thy thought accord-
ing to the principle of causality?
I. Yes.
Spirit. And with the same meaning and the same valid-
ity as thou didst describe it above. Thou thinkest so once
for all, and must think so; thou canst not alter it, and canst
know nothing more than that thou dost think so?
I. Nothing more. We have already investigated all this
thoroughly.
Spirit. I said, thou dost assume an object:--in so far as
it is so assumed, it is a product of thy own thought only?
I. Certainly, for this follows from the former.
Spirit. And what now is this object which is thus as-
sumed according to the principle of causality?
I. A power out of myself.
Spirit. Which is neither revealed to thee by sensation
nor by intuition?
I. No; I always remain perfectly conscious that I do not
perceive it immediately, but only by means of its manifesta-
tions; although I ascribe to it an existence independent of
myself. I am affected, there must therefore be something that affects me,--such is my thought.
Spirit. The object which is revealed to thee in intuition,
and that which thou assumest by reasoning, are thus very
different things. That which is actually and immediately
present before thee, spread out in space, is the object of in-
tuition; the internal force within it, which is not present
before thee, but whose existence thou art led to assert only
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THE VuCATION OF MAN.
by a process of reasoning, is the object of the understanding.
I. The internal force within it, saidst thou;--and now I
bethink me, thou art right. I place this force also in space,
and superadd it to the mass by which I regard space as filled.
Spirit. And what then, according to thy view, is the na-
ture of the relation subsisting between this force and the
mass?
/. The mass, with its properties, is itself the result and
manifestation of the inward force. This force has two modes
of operation:--one whereby it maintains itself, and assumes
this particular form in which it appears; another upon me,
by which it affects me in a particular manner.
Spirit. Thou hast formerly sought for another substratum
for sensible attributes or qualities than the space which
contains them; something besides this space, permanent
amid the vicissitudes of perpetual change.
I. Yes, and this permanent substratum is found. It is
? . force itself. This remains for ever the same amid all
change, and it is this which assumes and supports all sen-
sible attributes or qualities.
Spirit. Let us cast a glance back on all that we have now
established. Thou feelest thyself in a certain state, affected
in a certain manner, which thou callest red, smooth, sweet,
and so on. Of this thou knowest nothing, but simply that
thou feelest, and feelest in this particular manner. Or dost
thou know more than this? Is there in mere sensation any-
thing more than mere sensation?
I. No.
Spirit. Further, it is by thine own nature as an intelli-
gence, that there is space spread out before thee;--or dost
thou know anything more than this concerning space?
/. By no means.
Spirit. Between that state of simple sensation, and this
space which is spread out before thee, there is not the
smallest connexion except that they are both present in thy
consciousness. Or dost thou perceive any other connexion
between them?
/. I see none.
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
303
Spirit. But thou art a thinking, as well as a sensitive and
intuitive, being; and yet neither dost thou know anything
more of this matter, than that so thou art. Thou dost not
merely feel thy sensible state,--thou canst also conceive of
it in thought; but it affords thee no complete thought; thou
art compelled to add something to it, an external founda-
tion, a foreign power. Or dost thou know more of it than
that thou dost so think, and that thou art compelled so to
think?
I. I can know nothing more respecting it. I cannot pro-
ceed beyond my thought; for simply because I think it
does it become my thought and fall under the inevitable
laws of my being.
Spirit. Through this thought of thine, there first arises a
connexion between thy own state which thou feelest, and the space which thou dost intuitively contemplate; thou
supposest in the latter the foundation of the former. Is it
not so?
J. It is so. Thou hast clearly proved that I produce this
connexion in my consciousness by my own thought only,
and that such a connexion is neither directly felt, nor in-
tuitively perceived. But of any connexion beyond the lim-
its of my consciousness I cannot speak; I cannot even de-
scribe such a connexion in any manner of way; for even in
speaking of it I must be conscious of it; and, since this con-
sciousness can only be a thought, the connexion itself could
be nothing more than a thought; and this is precisely the
same connexion which occurs in my ordinary natural con-
sciousness, and no other. I cannot proceed a hair's-breadth
beyond this consciousness, any more than I can spring out
of myself. All attempts to conceive of an absolute con-
nexion between things in themselves, and the / in itself, are
but attempts to ignore our own thought,--a strange forget-
fulness of the undeniable fact that we can have no thought
without having--thought it. A thing in itself is a thought;
--this, namely, that there is a great thought which yet no
man has ever comprehended.
Spirit. From thee then I need fear no objection to the
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? 304
THE VOCATION OF MAN.
principle now established:--thatjour consciousness of things
out of ourselves is absolutely nothing more than the product of
our own presentative facuttyj and that, with regard to exter-
nal things, we can produce in this way nothing more than
simply what we know, i. \e. what is established by means of
our consciousness itself, aVthe result of our being possessed
of consciousness generally, and of this particular determinate
consciousness subject to such and such laws. I. I cannot refute this. It is so.
Spirit. Thou canst not then object to the bolder state-
ment of the same proposition; that in that which we call
knowledge and observation of outward things, we at all
times recognise and observe ourselves only; and that in all
our consciousness we know of nothing whatever but of our-
selves and of our own determinate states.
I say, thou wilt not be able to advance aught against this
proposition; for if the external world generally arises for us
only through our own consciousness, what is particular and
multiform in this external world can arise in no other way;
and if the connexion between what is external to us and
ourselves is merely a connexion in our own thought, then is
the connexion of the multifarious objects of the external
world among themselves undoubtedly this and no other. As
clearly as I have now pointed out to thee the origin of this
system of objects beyond thyself and their relation to thee,
could I also show thee the law according to which there
arises an infinite multiplicity of such objects, mutually con-
nected, reciprocally determining each other with rigid ne-
cessity, and thus forming a complete world-system, as thou
thyself hast well described it; and I only spare myself this
task because I find that thou hast already admitted the con-
clusion for the sake of which alone I should have under-
taken it.
I. I see it all, and must assent to it.
Spirit. And with this insight, mortal, be free, and for ever
released from the fear which has degraded and tormented
thee! Thou wilt no longer tremble at a necessity which
exists only in thine own thought; no longer fear to be
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
303
crushed by things which are the product of thine own
mind; no longer place thyself, the thinking being, in the
same class with the thoughts which proceed from thee. As
long as thou couldst believe that a system of things, such as
thou hast described, really existed out of, and independently
of, thee, and that thou thyself mightst be but a link in this
chain, such a fear was well grounded. Now when thou hast
seen that all this exists only in and through thyself, thou
wilt doubtless no longer fear that which thou dost now re-
cognise as thine own creation.
It was from this fear that I wished to set thee free.
Thou art delivered from it, and I now leave thee to thyself.
I. Stay, deceitful Spirit! Is this all the wisdom towards
which thou hast directed my hopes, and dost thou boast
that thou hast set me free? Thou hast set me free, it is
true:--thou hast absolved me from all dependence; for thou
hast transformed myself, and everything around me on
which I could possibly be dependent, into nothing. Thou
hast abolished necessity by annihilating all existence.
Spirit. Is the danger so great?
I. And thou canst jest! --According to thy system--
Spirit. My system? Whatever we have agreed upon, we
have produced in common; we have laboured together, and
thou hast understood everything as well as I myself.
But it
would still be difficult for thee at present even to guess at
my true and perfect mode of thought.
I. Call thy thoughts by what name thou wilt; by all that
thou hast hitherto said, there is nothing, absolutely nothing
but presentations,--modes of consciousness, and of con-
sciousness only. But a presentation is to me only the pic-
ture, the shadow, of a reality; in itself it cannot satisfy me,
and has not the smallest worth. I might be content that
this material world beyond me should vanish into a mere
picture, or be dissolved into a shadow; I am not dependent
on it:--but according to thy previous reasoning, I myself dis-
appear no less than it; I myself am transformed into a mere
Ba
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? 306
THE VOCATION OF MAN.
presentation, without meaning and without purpose. Or
tell me, is it otherwise?
Spirit. I say nothing in my own name. Examine,--help
thyself!
I. I appear to myself as a body existing in space, with
organs of sense and of action, as a physical force governed
by a wilL Of all this thou wilt say, as thou hast before said
of objects out of myself, the thinking being, that it is a pro-
duct of sensation, intuition, and thought combined.
Spirit. Undoubtedly. I will even show thee, step by step,
if thou desirest it, the laws according to which thou appear-
est to thyself in consciousness as an organic body, with such
and such senses,--as a physical force, &c. , and thou wilt be
compelled to admit the truth of what I show thee. I. I foresee that result. As I have been compelled to
admit that what I call sweet, red, hard, and so on, is nothing
more than my own affection; and that only by intuition and
thought it is transposed out of myself into space, and re-
garded as the property of something existing independently
of me; so shall I also be compelled to admit that this body,
with all its organs, is nothing but a sensible manifestation,
in a determinate portion of space, of myself the inward
thinking being;--that I, the spiritual entity, the pure intel-
ligence, and /, the bodily frame in the physical world, are
one and the same, merely viewed from two different sides,
and conceived of by two different faculties;--the first by
pure thought, the second by external intuition.
Spirit. This would certainly be the result of any inquiry
that might be instituted.
I. And this thinking, spiritual entity, this intelligence
which by intuition is transformed into a material body,--
what can even it be, according to these principles, but a pro-
duct of my own thought, something merely conceived of by
me because I am compelled to imagine its existence by vir-
tue of a law to me wholly inconceivable, proceeding from
nothing and tending to nothing.
Spirit. It is possible.
/. Thou becomest hesitating and faint-hearted. It is not
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
307
possible only: it is necessary, according to these principles.
This perceiving, thinking, willing, intelligent entity, or
whatever else thou mayest name that which possesses the
faculties of perception, thought, and so forth;--that in
which these faculties inhere, or in whatever other way thou
mayest express this thought;--how do I attain a knowledge
of it? Am I immediately conscious of it? How can I be?
It is only of actual and specific acts of perception, thought,
will, &c. , as of particular occurrences, that I am imme-
diately conscious; not of the capacities through which
they are performed, and still less of a being in whom these
capacities inhere. I perceive, directly and intuitively, this
specific thought which occupies me during the present mo-
ment, and other specific thoughts in other moments; and
here this inward intellectual intuition, this immediate con-
sciousness, ends. This inward intuitive thought, now be-
comes itself an object of thought; but according to the laws
under which alone I can think, it seems to me imperfect and
incomplete, just as formerly the thought of my sensible
states was but an imperfect thought. As formerly to mere
passivity I unconsciously superadded in thought an active
element, so here to my determinate state (my actual thought
or will) I superadd a determinable element (an infinite, pos-
sible thought or will) simply because 1 must do so, and for the
same reason, but without being conscious of this mental op-
position. This manifold possible thought I further compre-
hend as one definite whole;--once more because I must do
so, since I am unable to comprehend anything indefinite,--
and thus I obtain the idea of a finite capacity of thought, and
--since this idea carries with it the notion of a something
independent of the thought itself--of a being or entity
which possesses this capacity.
But, on higher principles, it may be made still more con-
ceivable how this thinking being is produced by its own
thought . Thought in itself is genetic, assuming the pre-
vious creation of an object immediately revealed, and occu-
pying itself with the description of this object. Intuition
gives the naked fact, and nothing more. Thought explains
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? 308 THE VOCATION OF MAN.
this fact, and unites it to another, not found in intuition, but
produced purely by thought itself, from which it, the fact,
proceeds. So here. I am conscious of a determinate
thought; thus far, and no farther, does intuitive conscious-
ness carry me. I think this determinate thought, that is, I
bring it forth from an indeterminate, but determinable, pos-
sibility of thought. In this way I proceed with everything
determinate which is presented in immediate consciousness,
and thus arise for me all those series of capacities, and of
beings possessing these capacities, whose existence I assume.
Spirit. Even with respect to thyself, therefore, thou art
conscious only that thou feelest, perceivest, or thinkest, in
this or that determinate manner?
I. That J feel, /perceive, J think ? --that I, as the effi-
cient principle, produce the sensation, the intuition, the
thought? By no means! Not even so much as this have
thy principles left me.
Spirit. Possibly.
I. Necessarily;--for see: All that I know is my con-
sciousness itself. All consciousness is either an immediate
or a mediate consciousness. The first is self-consciousness;
the second, consciousness of that which is not myself. What
I call I, is therefore absolutely nothing more than a certain
modification of consciousness, which is called /, just because
it is immediate, returning into itself, and not directed out-
ward. Since all other consciousness is possible only under
the condition of this immediate consciousness, it is obvious
that this consciousness which is called I must accompany all
my other conceptions, be necessarily contained in them, al-
though not always clearly perceived by me, and that in each
moment of my consciousness I must refer everything to this /, and not to the particular thing out of myself thought of at the
moment. In this way the / would at every moment vanish
and reappear; and for every new conception a new / would
arise, and this i" would never signify anything more than
--not the thing.
This scattered self-consciousness is now combined by
thought,--by mere thought, I say--and presented in the
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
309
unity of a supposed capacity of thought. According to this
supposition, all conceptions which are accompanied by the
immediate consciousness already spoken of, must proceed
from one and the same capacity, which inheres in one and
the same entity; and thus there arises for me the notion of
the identity and personality of my 7, and of an efficient and
real power in this person,--necessarily a mere fiction, since
this capacity and this entity are themselves only supposi-
tions.
Spirit. Thou reasonest correctly.
I. And thou hast pleasure in this! I may then indeed
say " it is thought,"--and yet I can scarcely say even this;
--rather, strictly speaking, I ought to say " the thought ap-
pears that I feel, perceive, think,"--but by no means "that I
feel, perceive, think. " The first only is fact; the second is
an imaginary addition to the fact.
Spirit. It is well expressed.
I. There is nothing enduring, either out of me, or in me,
but only a ceaseless change. I know of no being, not even
of my own. There is no being. I myself absolutely know
not, and am not. Pictures are :--they are the only things
which exist, and they know of themselves after the fashion
of pictures:--pictures which float past without there being
anything past which they float; which, by means of like
pictures, are connected with each other:--pictures without
anything which is pictured in them, without significance
and without aim. I myself am one of these pictures;--nay,
I am not even this, but merely a confused picture of the
pictures. All reality is transformed into a strange dream,
without a life which is dreamed of, and without a mind
which dreams it;--into a dream which is woven together in
a dream of itself. Intuition is the dream; thought,--the
source of all the being and all the reality which I imagine,
of my own being, my own powers, and my own purposes,--
is the dream of that dream.
Spirit. Thou hast well understood it all. Employ the
sharpest expressions to make this result hateful, since thou
must submit to it . And this thou must do. Thou hast
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? 310
THE VOCATION OF MAN.
clearly seen that it cannot be otherwise. Or wilt thou now
retract thy admissions, and justify thy retractation on
principle?
I. By no means. I have seen, and now see clearly, that
it is so;--yet I cannot believe it
.
Spirit. Thou seest it clearly, and yet canst not believe
it? That is a different matter.
I. Thou art a profligate spirit: thy knowledge itself is
profligacy, and springs from profligacy; and I cannot thank
thee for having led me on this path!
Spirit. Short-sighted mortal! When men venture to
look into being, and see as far as themselves, and a little
further,--such as thou art call it profligacy. I have allowed
thee to deduce the results of our inquiry in thine own way,
to analyze them, and to clothe them in hateful expressions.
Didst thou then think that these results were less known to
me than to thyself,--that I did not understand, as well as
thou, how by these principles all reality was thoroughly an-
nihilated, and transformed into a dream? Didst thou then
take me for a blind admirer and advocate of this system, as
a complete system of the human mind?
Thou didst desire to know, and thou hadst taken a wrong
road. Thou didst seek knowledge where no knowledge can
reach; and hadst even persuaded thyself that thou hadst
obtained an insight into something which is opposed to the
very nature of all insight . I found thee in this condition.
I wished to free thee from thy false knowledge; but by no
means to bring thee the true.
Thou didst desire to know of thy knowledge. Art thou
surprised that in this way thou didst discover nothing more
than that of which thou desiredst to know,--thy knowledge
itself; and wouldst thou have had it otherwise? What has
its origin in and through knowledge, is merely knowledge.
All knowledge, however, is but pictures, representations;
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
311
and there is always something awanting in it,--that which
corresponds to the representation. This want cannot be
supplied by knowledge; a system of mere knowledge is ne-
cessarily a system of mere pictures, wholly without reality, significance or aim. Didst thou expect anything else?
Wouldst thou change the very nature of thy mind, and
desire thy knowledge to be something more than know-
ledge?
The reality, in which thou didst formerly believe,--a material world existing independently of thee, of which thou
didst fear to become the slave,--has vanished; for this
whole material world arises only through knowledge, and is
itself our knowledge; [but knowledge is not reality, just be-
cause it is knowledge. Thou hast seen through the illusion;
and, without belying thy better insight, thou canst never
again give thyself up to it . This is the sole merit which I
claim for the system which we have together discovered;--it
destroys and annihilates error. It cannot give us truth, for
in itself it is absolutely empty. Thou dost now seek, and
with good right as I well know, something real lying be-
yond mere appearance, another reality than that which has
thus been annihilated. But in vain wouldst thou labour to
create this reality by means of thy knowledge, or out of thy
knowledge; or to embrace it by thy understanding. If thou
hast no other organ by which to apprehend it, thou wilt
never find it.
But thou hast such an organ. Arouse and animate it,
and thou wilt attain to perfect tranquillity. I leave thee
alone with thyself.
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? 312
THE VOCATION OF MAX.
BOOK III.
FAITH.
Terrible Spirit, thy discourse has smitten me to the
ground. But thou referrest me to myself, and what were I
could anything out of myself irrecoverably cast me down? I
will --yes, surely I wilhfollow thy counsel.
What seekest thou, then, my complaining heart? What
is it that excites thee against a system to which my under-
standing cannot raise the slightest objection?
This it is:--I demand something beyond a mere presenta-
tion or conception; something that is, has been, and will be,
even if the presentation were not; and which the presenta-
tion only records, without producing it, or in the smallest
degree changing it. A mere presentation I now see to be a
deceptive show; my presentations must have a meaning be-
neath them, and if my entire knowledge revealed to me
nothing but knowledge, I would be defrauded of my whole
life. That there is nothing whatever but my presentations
or conceptions, is, to the natural sense of mankind, a silly
and ridiculous conceit which no man can seriously entertain,
and which requires no refutation. To the better-informed
judgment, which knows the deep, and, by mere reasoning, ir-
refragable grounds for this assertion, it is a prostrating, an-
nihilating thought.
And what, then, is this something lying beyond all pre-
sentation, towards which I stretch forward with such ardent
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I,--myself; and that partly as a practical being,
partly as an intelligence. The first consciousness is
Sensation, the second Intuition--unlimited space.
2. I cannot comprehend the unlimited, for I am finite. I
therefore set apart, in thought, a certain portion of
universal space, and place the former in a certain re-
lation to the latter.
3. The measure of this limited portion of space is the ex-
tent of my own sensibility, according to a principle
which may be thus expressed :--Whatever affects me
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? 300
THE VOCATION OF MAN.
in such or such a manner is to be placed, in space, in
such or such relations to the other things which
-->affect me.
The properties or attributes of the object proceed from
the perception of my own internal state; the space which it
fills, from intuitive contemplation. By a process of thought,
both are conjoined; the former being added to the latter.
It is so, assuredly, as we have said before:--that which is
merely a state or affection of myself, by being transferred or
projected into space becomes an attribute of the object; but
it is so projected into space, not by intuition, but by thought,
by measuring, regulating thought. Not that this act is to
be regarded as an intellectual discovery or creation; but
only as a more exact definition, by means of thought, of
something which is already given in sensation and intuition,
independent of all thought.
Spirit. Whatever affects me in such or such a manner is
to be placed in such or such relations:--thus dost thou rea-
son in defining and arranging objects in space. But does
not the declaration that a thing affects thee in a certain
manner, include the assumption that it affects thee gene-
rally?
I. Undoubtedly.
Spirit. And is any presentation of an external object pos-
sible, which is not in this manner limited and defined in
space?
/. No; for no object exists in space generally, but each
one in a determinate portion of space.
Spirit. So that in fact, whether thou art conscious of it or
not, every external object is assumed by thee as affecting
thyself, as certainly as it is assumed as filling a determinate
portion of space?
/. That follows, certainly.
Spirit. And what kind of presentation is that of an object
affecting thyself?
I. Evidently a thought; and indeed a thought founded
on the principle of causality already mentioned. I see now,
still more clearly, that the consciousness of the object is en-
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
301
grafted on my self-consciousness in two ways,--partly by in-
tuition, and partly by thought founded on the principle of
causality. The object, however strange it may seem, is at
once the immediate object of my consciousness, and the re-
sult of deliberate thought.
Spirit. In different respects, however. Thou must be
capable of being conscious of this thought of the object?
I. Doubtless; although usually I am not so.
Spirit. Therefore to thy passive state, thy affection, thou
dost superadd in thought an activity out of thyself, such as
thou hast above described in the case of thy thought accord-
ing to the principle of causality?
I. Yes.
Spirit. And with the same meaning and the same valid-
ity as thou didst describe it above. Thou thinkest so once
for all, and must think so; thou canst not alter it, and canst
know nothing more than that thou dost think so?
I. Nothing more. We have already investigated all this
thoroughly.
Spirit. I said, thou dost assume an object:--in so far as
it is so assumed, it is a product of thy own thought only?
I. Certainly, for this follows from the former.
Spirit. And what now is this object which is thus as-
sumed according to the principle of causality?
I. A power out of myself.
Spirit. Which is neither revealed to thee by sensation
nor by intuition?
I. No; I always remain perfectly conscious that I do not
perceive it immediately, but only by means of its manifesta-
tions; although I ascribe to it an existence independent of
myself. I am affected, there must therefore be something that affects me,--such is my thought.
Spirit. The object which is revealed to thee in intuition,
and that which thou assumest by reasoning, are thus very
different things. That which is actually and immediately
present before thee, spread out in space, is the object of in-
tuition; the internal force within it, which is not present
before thee, but whose existence thou art led to assert only
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? 302
THE VuCATION OF MAN.
by a process of reasoning, is the object of the understanding.
I. The internal force within it, saidst thou;--and now I
bethink me, thou art right. I place this force also in space,
and superadd it to the mass by which I regard space as filled.
Spirit. And what then, according to thy view, is the na-
ture of the relation subsisting between this force and the
mass?
/. The mass, with its properties, is itself the result and
manifestation of the inward force. This force has two modes
of operation:--one whereby it maintains itself, and assumes
this particular form in which it appears; another upon me,
by which it affects me in a particular manner.
Spirit. Thou hast formerly sought for another substratum
for sensible attributes or qualities than the space which
contains them; something besides this space, permanent
amid the vicissitudes of perpetual change.
I. Yes, and this permanent substratum is found. It is
? . force itself. This remains for ever the same amid all
change, and it is this which assumes and supports all sen-
sible attributes or qualities.
Spirit. Let us cast a glance back on all that we have now
established. Thou feelest thyself in a certain state, affected
in a certain manner, which thou callest red, smooth, sweet,
and so on. Of this thou knowest nothing, but simply that
thou feelest, and feelest in this particular manner. Or dost
thou know more than this? Is there in mere sensation any-
thing more than mere sensation?
I. No.
Spirit. Further, it is by thine own nature as an intelli-
gence, that there is space spread out before thee;--or dost
thou know anything more than this concerning space?
/. By no means.
Spirit. Between that state of simple sensation, and this
space which is spread out before thee, there is not the
smallest connexion except that they are both present in thy
consciousness. Or dost thou perceive any other connexion
between them?
/. I see none.
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
303
Spirit. But thou art a thinking, as well as a sensitive and
intuitive, being; and yet neither dost thou know anything
more of this matter, than that so thou art. Thou dost not
merely feel thy sensible state,--thou canst also conceive of
it in thought; but it affords thee no complete thought; thou
art compelled to add something to it, an external founda-
tion, a foreign power. Or dost thou know more of it than
that thou dost so think, and that thou art compelled so to
think?
I. I can know nothing more respecting it. I cannot pro-
ceed beyond my thought; for simply because I think it
does it become my thought and fall under the inevitable
laws of my being.
Spirit. Through this thought of thine, there first arises a
connexion between thy own state which thou feelest, and the space which thou dost intuitively contemplate; thou
supposest in the latter the foundation of the former. Is it
not so?
J. It is so. Thou hast clearly proved that I produce this
connexion in my consciousness by my own thought only,
and that such a connexion is neither directly felt, nor in-
tuitively perceived. But of any connexion beyond the lim-
its of my consciousness I cannot speak; I cannot even de-
scribe such a connexion in any manner of way; for even in
speaking of it I must be conscious of it; and, since this con-
sciousness can only be a thought, the connexion itself could
be nothing more than a thought; and this is precisely the
same connexion which occurs in my ordinary natural con-
sciousness, and no other. I cannot proceed a hair's-breadth
beyond this consciousness, any more than I can spring out
of myself. All attempts to conceive of an absolute con-
nexion between things in themselves, and the / in itself, are
but attempts to ignore our own thought,--a strange forget-
fulness of the undeniable fact that we can have no thought
without having--thought it. A thing in itself is a thought;
--this, namely, that there is a great thought which yet no
man has ever comprehended.
Spirit. From thee then I need fear no objection to the
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? 304
THE VOCATION OF MAN.
principle now established:--thatjour consciousness of things
out of ourselves is absolutely nothing more than the product of
our own presentative facuttyj and that, with regard to exter-
nal things, we can produce in this way nothing more than
simply what we know, i. \e. what is established by means of
our consciousness itself, aVthe result of our being possessed
of consciousness generally, and of this particular determinate
consciousness subject to such and such laws. I. I cannot refute this. It is so.
Spirit. Thou canst not then object to the bolder state-
ment of the same proposition; that in that which we call
knowledge and observation of outward things, we at all
times recognise and observe ourselves only; and that in all
our consciousness we know of nothing whatever but of our-
selves and of our own determinate states.
I say, thou wilt not be able to advance aught against this
proposition; for if the external world generally arises for us
only through our own consciousness, what is particular and
multiform in this external world can arise in no other way;
and if the connexion between what is external to us and
ourselves is merely a connexion in our own thought, then is
the connexion of the multifarious objects of the external
world among themselves undoubtedly this and no other. As
clearly as I have now pointed out to thee the origin of this
system of objects beyond thyself and their relation to thee,
could I also show thee the law according to which there
arises an infinite multiplicity of such objects, mutually con-
nected, reciprocally determining each other with rigid ne-
cessity, and thus forming a complete world-system, as thou
thyself hast well described it; and I only spare myself this
task because I find that thou hast already admitted the con-
clusion for the sake of which alone I should have under-
taken it.
I. I see it all, and must assent to it.
Spirit. And with this insight, mortal, be free, and for ever
released from the fear which has degraded and tormented
thee! Thou wilt no longer tremble at a necessity which
exists only in thine own thought; no longer fear to be
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
303
crushed by things which are the product of thine own
mind; no longer place thyself, the thinking being, in the
same class with the thoughts which proceed from thee. As
long as thou couldst believe that a system of things, such as
thou hast described, really existed out of, and independently
of, thee, and that thou thyself mightst be but a link in this
chain, such a fear was well grounded. Now when thou hast
seen that all this exists only in and through thyself, thou
wilt doubtless no longer fear that which thou dost now re-
cognise as thine own creation.
It was from this fear that I wished to set thee free.
Thou art delivered from it, and I now leave thee to thyself.
I. Stay, deceitful Spirit! Is this all the wisdom towards
which thou hast directed my hopes, and dost thou boast
that thou hast set me free? Thou hast set me free, it is
true:--thou hast absolved me from all dependence; for thou
hast transformed myself, and everything around me on
which I could possibly be dependent, into nothing. Thou
hast abolished necessity by annihilating all existence.
Spirit. Is the danger so great?
I. And thou canst jest! --According to thy system--
Spirit. My system? Whatever we have agreed upon, we
have produced in common; we have laboured together, and
thou hast understood everything as well as I myself.
But it
would still be difficult for thee at present even to guess at
my true and perfect mode of thought.
I. Call thy thoughts by what name thou wilt; by all that
thou hast hitherto said, there is nothing, absolutely nothing
but presentations,--modes of consciousness, and of con-
sciousness only. But a presentation is to me only the pic-
ture, the shadow, of a reality; in itself it cannot satisfy me,
and has not the smallest worth. I might be content that
this material world beyond me should vanish into a mere
picture, or be dissolved into a shadow; I am not dependent
on it:--but according to thy previous reasoning, I myself dis-
appear no less than it; I myself am transformed into a mere
Ba
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? 306
THE VOCATION OF MAN.
presentation, without meaning and without purpose. Or
tell me, is it otherwise?
Spirit. I say nothing in my own name. Examine,--help
thyself!
I. I appear to myself as a body existing in space, with
organs of sense and of action, as a physical force governed
by a wilL Of all this thou wilt say, as thou hast before said
of objects out of myself, the thinking being, that it is a pro-
duct of sensation, intuition, and thought combined.
Spirit. Undoubtedly. I will even show thee, step by step,
if thou desirest it, the laws according to which thou appear-
est to thyself in consciousness as an organic body, with such
and such senses,--as a physical force, &c. , and thou wilt be
compelled to admit the truth of what I show thee. I. I foresee that result. As I have been compelled to
admit that what I call sweet, red, hard, and so on, is nothing
more than my own affection; and that only by intuition and
thought it is transposed out of myself into space, and re-
garded as the property of something existing independently
of me; so shall I also be compelled to admit that this body,
with all its organs, is nothing but a sensible manifestation,
in a determinate portion of space, of myself the inward
thinking being;--that I, the spiritual entity, the pure intel-
ligence, and /, the bodily frame in the physical world, are
one and the same, merely viewed from two different sides,
and conceived of by two different faculties;--the first by
pure thought, the second by external intuition.
Spirit. This would certainly be the result of any inquiry
that might be instituted.
I. And this thinking, spiritual entity, this intelligence
which by intuition is transformed into a material body,--
what can even it be, according to these principles, but a pro-
duct of my own thought, something merely conceived of by
me because I am compelled to imagine its existence by vir-
tue of a law to me wholly inconceivable, proceeding from
nothing and tending to nothing.
Spirit. It is possible.
/. Thou becomest hesitating and faint-hearted. It is not
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
307
possible only: it is necessary, according to these principles.
This perceiving, thinking, willing, intelligent entity, or
whatever else thou mayest name that which possesses the
faculties of perception, thought, and so forth;--that in
which these faculties inhere, or in whatever other way thou
mayest express this thought;--how do I attain a knowledge
of it? Am I immediately conscious of it? How can I be?
It is only of actual and specific acts of perception, thought,
will, &c. , as of particular occurrences, that I am imme-
diately conscious; not of the capacities through which
they are performed, and still less of a being in whom these
capacities inhere. I perceive, directly and intuitively, this
specific thought which occupies me during the present mo-
ment, and other specific thoughts in other moments; and
here this inward intellectual intuition, this immediate con-
sciousness, ends. This inward intuitive thought, now be-
comes itself an object of thought; but according to the laws
under which alone I can think, it seems to me imperfect and
incomplete, just as formerly the thought of my sensible
states was but an imperfect thought. As formerly to mere
passivity I unconsciously superadded in thought an active
element, so here to my determinate state (my actual thought
or will) I superadd a determinable element (an infinite, pos-
sible thought or will) simply because 1 must do so, and for the
same reason, but without being conscious of this mental op-
position. This manifold possible thought I further compre-
hend as one definite whole;--once more because I must do
so, since I am unable to comprehend anything indefinite,--
and thus I obtain the idea of a finite capacity of thought, and
--since this idea carries with it the notion of a something
independent of the thought itself--of a being or entity
which possesses this capacity.
But, on higher principles, it may be made still more con-
ceivable how this thinking being is produced by its own
thought . Thought in itself is genetic, assuming the pre-
vious creation of an object immediately revealed, and occu-
pying itself with the description of this object. Intuition
gives the naked fact, and nothing more. Thought explains
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? 308 THE VOCATION OF MAN.
this fact, and unites it to another, not found in intuition, but
produced purely by thought itself, from which it, the fact,
proceeds. So here. I am conscious of a determinate
thought; thus far, and no farther, does intuitive conscious-
ness carry me. I think this determinate thought, that is, I
bring it forth from an indeterminate, but determinable, pos-
sibility of thought. In this way I proceed with everything
determinate which is presented in immediate consciousness,
and thus arise for me all those series of capacities, and of
beings possessing these capacities, whose existence I assume.
Spirit. Even with respect to thyself, therefore, thou art
conscious only that thou feelest, perceivest, or thinkest, in
this or that determinate manner?
I. That J feel, /perceive, J think ? --that I, as the effi-
cient principle, produce the sensation, the intuition, the
thought? By no means! Not even so much as this have
thy principles left me.
Spirit. Possibly.
I. Necessarily;--for see: All that I know is my con-
sciousness itself. All consciousness is either an immediate
or a mediate consciousness. The first is self-consciousness;
the second, consciousness of that which is not myself. What
I call I, is therefore absolutely nothing more than a certain
modification of consciousness, which is called /, just because
it is immediate, returning into itself, and not directed out-
ward. Since all other consciousness is possible only under
the condition of this immediate consciousness, it is obvious
that this consciousness which is called I must accompany all
my other conceptions, be necessarily contained in them, al-
though not always clearly perceived by me, and that in each
moment of my consciousness I must refer everything to this /, and not to the particular thing out of myself thought of at the
moment. In this way the / would at every moment vanish
and reappear; and for every new conception a new / would
arise, and this i" would never signify anything more than
--not the thing.
This scattered self-consciousness is now combined by
thought,--by mere thought, I say--and presented in the
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
309
unity of a supposed capacity of thought. According to this
supposition, all conceptions which are accompanied by the
immediate consciousness already spoken of, must proceed
from one and the same capacity, which inheres in one and
the same entity; and thus there arises for me the notion of
the identity and personality of my 7, and of an efficient and
real power in this person,--necessarily a mere fiction, since
this capacity and this entity are themselves only supposi-
tions.
Spirit. Thou reasonest correctly.
I. And thou hast pleasure in this! I may then indeed
say " it is thought,"--and yet I can scarcely say even this;
--rather, strictly speaking, I ought to say " the thought ap-
pears that I feel, perceive, think,"--but by no means "that I
feel, perceive, think. " The first only is fact; the second is
an imaginary addition to the fact.
Spirit. It is well expressed.
I. There is nothing enduring, either out of me, or in me,
but only a ceaseless change. I know of no being, not even
of my own. There is no being. I myself absolutely know
not, and am not. Pictures are :--they are the only things
which exist, and they know of themselves after the fashion
of pictures:--pictures which float past without there being
anything past which they float; which, by means of like
pictures, are connected with each other:--pictures without
anything which is pictured in them, without significance
and without aim. I myself am one of these pictures;--nay,
I am not even this, but merely a confused picture of the
pictures. All reality is transformed into a strange dream,
without a life which is dreamed of, and without a mind
which dreams it;--into a dream which is woven together in
a dream of itself. Intuition is the dream; thought,--the
source of all the being and all the reality which I imagine,
of my own being, my own powers, and my own purposes,--
is the dream of that dream.
Spirit. Thou hast well understood it all. Employ the
sharpest expressions to make this result hateful, since thou
must submit to it . And this thou must do. Thou hast
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? 310
THE VOCATION OF MAN.
clearly seen that it cannot be otherwise. Or wilt thou now
retract thy admissions, and justify thy retractation on
principle?
I. By no means. I have seen, and now see clearly, that
it is so;--yet I cannot believe it
.
Spirit. Thou seest it clearly, and yet canst not believe
it? That is a different matter.
I. Thou art a profligate spirit: thy knowledge itself is
profligacy, and springs from profligacy; and I cannot thank
thee for having led me on this path!
Spirit. Short-sighted mortal! When men venture to
look into being, and see as far as themselves, and a little
further,--such as thou art call it profligacy. I have allowed
thee to deduce the results of our inquiry in thine own way,
to analyze them, and to clothe them in hateful expressions.
Didst thou then think that these results were less known to
me than to thyself,--that I did not understand, as well as
thou, how by these principles all reality was thoroughly an-
nihilated, and transformed into a dream? Didst thou then
take me for a blind admirer and advocate of this system, as
a complete system of the human mind?
Thou didst desire to know, and thou hadst taken a wrong
road. Thou didst seek knowledge where no knowledge can
reach; and hadst even persuaded thyself that thou hadst
obtained an insight into something which is opposed to the
very nature of all insight . I found thee in this condition.
I wished to free thee from thy false knowledge; but by no
means to bring thee the true.
Thou didst desire to know of thy knowledge. Art thou
surprised that in this way thou didst discover nothing more
than that of which thou desiredst to know,--thy knowledge
itself; and wouldst thou have had it otherwise? What has
its origin in and through knowledge, is merely knowledge.
All knowledge, however, is but pictures, representations;
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? BOOK II. KNOWLEDGE.
311
and there is always something awanting in it,--that which
corresponds to the representation. This want cannot be
supplied by knowledge; a system of mere knowledge is ne-
cessarily a system of mere pictures, wholly without reality, significance or aim. Didst thou expect anything else?
Wouldst thou change the very nature of thy mind, and
desire thy knowledge to be something more than know-
ledge?
The reality, in which thou didst formerly believe,--a material world existing independently of thee, of which thou
didst fear to become the slave,--has vanished; for this
whole material world arises only through knowledge, and is
itself our knowledge; [but knowledge is not reality, just be-
cause it is knowledge. Thou hast seen through the illusion;
and, without belying thy better insight, thou canst never
again give thyself up to it . This is the sole merit which I
claim for the system which we have together discovered;--it
destroys and annihilates error. It cannot give us truth, for
in itself it is absolutely empty. Thou dost now seek, and
with good right as I well know, something real lying be-
yond mere appearance, another reality than that which has
thus been annihilated. But in vain wouldst thou labour to
create this reality by means of thy knowledge, or out of thy
knowledge; or to embrace it by thy understanding. If thou
hast no other organ by which to apprehend it, thou wilt
never find it.
But thou hast such an organ. Arouse and animate it,
and thou wilt attain to perfect tranquillity. I leave thee
alone with thyself.
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? 312
THE VOCATION OF MAX.
BOOK III.
FAITH.
Terrible Spirit, thy discourse has smitten me to the
ground. But thou referrest me to myself, and what were I
could anything out of myself irrecoverably cast me down? I
will --yes, surely I wilhfollow thy counsel.
What seekest thou, then, my complaining heart? What
is it that excites thee against a system to which my under-
standing cannot raise the slightest objection?
This it is:--I demand something beyond a mere presenta-
tion or conception; something that is, has been, and will be,
even if the presentation were not; and which the presenta-
tion only records, without producing it, or in the smallest
degree changing it. A mere presentation I now see to be a
deceptive show; my presentations must have a meaning be-
neath them, and if my entire knowledge revealed to me
nothing but knowledge, I would be defrauded of my whole
life. That there is nothing whatever but my presentations
or conceptions, is, to the natural sense of mankind, a silly
and ridiculous conceit which no man can seriously entertain,
and which requires no refutation. To the better-informed
judgment, which knows the deep, and, by mere reasoning, ir-
refragable grounds for this assertion, it is a prostrating, an-
nihilating thought.
And what, then, is this something lying beyond all pre-
sentation, towards which I stretch forward with such ardent
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