Abstract

Fichtes philosophy of the body originated on the one hand from his critique of utilitarianist Enlightenment mentality, and on the other from his conception of private property. The theory of liberty he proposes is giving preference to the body as a range of activities, the centre of initiatives and communications, which is structured in such a way that, by an act of selflimitation, it proves to be receptive to reciprocity. Whenever a human being presents itself, it already makes an appeal to the other, the fellow man, for a free agreement. The philosophy of one's own body is the central point of the law theory which Fichte elaborated at Jena. But even the developments of his final philosophy never conflicted with this idea. On the contrary, the appropriate completion of his conception of the body is to be found in his metaphysics of action where he reassumes human liberty in his interpretation of existence as the infinite manifestation of the Absolute