German idealism; philosophy of the "I"
Fichte (1762–1814) took up Kant and pushed critical philosophy into subjective idealism, deriving all experience and morality from the active "I" that posits a "not-I." His fiery Addresses to the German Nation also made him an early voice of German nationalism.
Starting from the absolute "I," Fichte held that the self posits an opposing "not-I" (the world) for the sake of its own activity, drawing Kant’s thing-in-itself back into the subject and launching German idealism’s grand systems.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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