This page intentionally left blank CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT Fichte:AddressestotheGermanNation This is the first translation of Fichte’s Addresses to the German Nation for almost100years.Theseriesoffourteenspeeches,deliveredwhilstBerlinwas underFrenchoccupationafterPrussia’sdisastrousdefeatattheBattleofJena in1806,iswidelyregardedasafoundingdocumentofGermannationalism, celebratedandreviledinequalmeasure.Fichte’saccountofthedistinctive- ness of the German people and his belief in the native superiority of its culturehelpedtoshapeGermannationalidentitythroughoutthenineteenth century and beyond. With an extensive introduction that puts Fichte’s argument in its intellectual and historical context, this edition brings an importantandseminalworktoamodernreadership.Alloftheusualseries featuresareprovided,includingnotesforfurtherreadingandachronology. gregorymooreislecturerinGermanattheUniversityofStAndrews.He previouslytaughtattheUniversityofWalesAberystwyth,andwasJunior ResearchfellowatSidneySussexCollege,UniversityofCambridge.Heis SecretaryoftheFriedrichNietzscheSociety. CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT FICHTE ADDRESSESTOTHEGERMANNATION CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT Serieseditors RAYMOND GEUSS, ProfessorofPhilosophy,University ofCambridge QUENTIN SKINNER, ProfessoroftheHumanities,Queen Mary,UniversityofLondon CambridgeTexts intheHistoryofPolitical Thoughtisnowfirmlyestab- lishedasthemajorstudenttextbookseriesinpoliticaltheory.Itaimstomake availabletostudentsallthemostimportanttextsinthehistoryofWestern politicalthought,fromancientGreecetotheearlytwentiethcentury.Allthe familiarclassictextswillbeincluded,buttheseriesseeksatthesametimeto enlargetheconventionalcanonbyincorporatinganextensive rangeofless well-knownworks,manyofthemneverbeforeavailableinamodernEnglish edition.Whereverpossible,textsarepublishedinacompleteandunabridged form,andtranslationsarespeciallycommissionedfortheseries.Eachvolume contains a critical introduction together with chronologies, biographical sketches,aguidetofurtherreadingandanynecessaryglossariesandtextual apparatus. When completed, the series will offer an outline of the entire evolutionofWesternpoliticalthought. Foralistoftitlespublishedinthisseries,pleaseseeendofbook. FICHTE: ADDRESSES TO THE GERMAN NATION editedwithanintroductionandnotesby GREGORY MOORE UniversityofStAndrews CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521444040 © In the translation and editorial matter Cambridge University Press 2008 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2009 ISBN-13 978-0-511-46369-3 eBook (EBL) ISBN-13 978-0-521-44404-0 hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-44873-4 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Contents Acknowledgements pageix Introduction xi Chronology xxxvii Noteonthetextandtranslation xl Suggestionsforfurtherreading xliii Abbreviations xlv AddressestotheGermanNation 1 Foreword 3 1. Preliminaryremarksandoverview 9 2. Onthenatureoftheneweducationingeneral 22 3. Descriptionoftheneweducation–continued 35 4. TheprincipaldifferencebetweentheGermansandother peoplesofTeutonicdescent 47 5. Consequencesofthedifferencethathasbeenadvanced 60 6. ExpositionofGermancharacteristicsinhistory 73 7. AyetdeeperunderstandingoftheoriginalityandGermanness ofapeople 85 8. Whatapeopleisinthehighersenseofthewordandwhatis loveoffatherland 100 9. Atwhatpointexistinginrealitythenewnationaleducation oftheGermanswillbegin 115 10. TowardsamoreexactdefinitionoftheGermannational education 128 11. Onwhomtheexecutionofthisplanofeducationwilldevolve 141 vii Contents 12. Onthemeansofmaintainingourselvesuntilweachieveour principalpurpose 154 13. Continuationofthereflectionsalreadybegun 166 14. Conclusionofthewhole 183 Glossary 197 Index 199 viii