more on this theme     |     more from this thinker

Single Idea 23235

[filed under theme 16. Persons / F. Free Will / 2. Sources of Free Will ]

Full Idea

I want to be independent - not to be in and through another but to be something for myself: and as such I want myself to be the fundamental cause of all my determinations.

Gist of Idea

I want independent control of the fundamental cause of my decisions

Source

Johann Fichte (The Vocation of Man [1800], 1)

Book Ref

Fichte,Johann G.: 'The Vocation of Man', ed/tr. Preuss,Peter [Hackett 1987], p.21

A Reaction

I think this sums up the absurdity of the concept of free will. The only reason he gives for his passionate belief in free will is that he desperately wants some imagined 'fundamental cause' for his action, and he wants full control of that chimera.

The 24 ideas from 'The Vocation of Man'

23232 Sufficient reason makes the transition from the particular to the general [Fichte]
23227 Each object has a precise number of properties, each to a precise degree [Fichte]
23228 The principle of activity and generation is found in a self-moving basic force [Fichte]
23233 The will is awareness of one of our inner natural forces [Fichte]
23237 The capacity for freedom is above the laws of nature, with its own power of purpose and will [Fichte]
23235 I want independent control of the fundamental cause of my decisions [Fichte]
23230 Nature contains a fundamental force of thought [Fichte]
23234 I cannot change the nature which has been determined for me [Fichte]
23239 The self is, apart from outward behaviour, a drive in your nature [Fichte]
23238 If life lacks love it becomes destruction [Fichte]
23236 Freedom means making yourself become true to your essential nature [Fichte]
23229 Nature is wholly interconnected, and the tiniest change affects everything [Fichte]
23231 I immediately know myself, and anything beyond that is an inference [Fichte]
23242 Consciousness has two parts, passively receiving sensation, and actively causing productions [Fichte]
23243 Consciousness of external things is always accompanied by an unnoticed consciousness of self [Fichte]
23241 I am myself, but not the external object; so I only sense myself, and not the object [Fichte]
23240 We can't know by sight or hearing without realising that we are doing so [Fichte]
23246 Faith is not knowledge; it is a decision of the will [Fichte]
23244 Forming purposes is absolutely free, and produces something from nothing [Fichte]
23245 Knowledge can't be its own foundation; there has to be regress of higher and higher authorities [Fichte]
23247 The need to act produces consciousness, and practical reason is the root of all reason [Fichte]
21966 Self-consciousness is the basis of knowledge, and knowing something is knowing myself [Fichte]
21967 There is nothing to say about anything which is outside my consciousness [Fichte]
21969 Awareness of reality comes from the free activity of consciousness [Fichte]