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Article on German Idealism from the Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Excerpt:
To get at the bottom of the matter, it was felt that human
consciousness as a starting-point would have to be abandoned and an
absolute consciousness posited. From this reality of absolute
consciousness, then, individual consciousness could be deduced in a
manner, analogous to that employed by Kant. The first to attempt such a
comprehensive solution of the problem was Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Starting
from Kant's idealistic position he tried to overcome the dualism involved
in Kant's doctrine of a (thing in itself) by bringing this mysterious
reality into consciousness. To do this he dropped the Kantian distinction
between practical and theoretical reason, and conceived of the absolute
mind, or ego, as moral reason. In his view all existence is psychical, and
the human mind is only a manifestation of the absolute ego. Thus, the last
trace of an unknowable transcendent reality is obliterated. The absolute
ego has divided itself into a large number of relative egos, and through
these it is moving progressively toward its own destiny. The core of
reality lies in human personality, in the finite mind, but this is caught
up in an endless process of development...
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