Editions of Fichte’s Complete Works in German

• Johann Gottlieb Fichtes nachgelassene Werke, 3 volumes, I. H. Fichte (ed.), Bonn: Adolph-Marcus, 1834-35.
• Johann Gottlieb Fichtes sämmtliche Werke, 8 volumes, I. H. Fichte (ed.), Berlin: Veit, 1845–46. [Taken together, these 11 volumes, edited by Fichte’s son, constituted the first attempt at a complete edition of his works and are still widely cited and reprinted, most recently by de Gruyter, under the title Fichtes Werke.]
• J. G. Fichte: Gesamtausgabe der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 42 volumes, Erich Fuchs, Reinhard Lauth, Hans Jacobs, and Hans Gliwitzky (eds.), Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann, 1964-2012. [Organized into four separate series—writings published by Fichte, unpublished writings, correspondence, and student lecture transcripts—this monumental critical edition supersedes all earlier editions.]

Individual Works and English translations

• Versuch einer Kritik aller Offenbarung, 1792; 2nd ed., 1793.
  • Attempt at a Critique of All Revelation, trans. Garrett Green, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978.
• Beitrag zur Berichtigung der Urteile des Publikums über die französische Revolution, 1793.
  • Contribution to the Correction of the Public's Judgment on the French Revolution, trans. Jeffrey Church and anna Marisa Schön. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2021. (Scholar)
• [Rezension:] Leonard Creuzer, Skeptische Betrachatungen über die Freiheit des Willens mit Hinsicht auf die neuestenh Theoreien dieselben, 1793.
  • “Creuzer Review,” trans. Daniel Breazeale, The Philosophical Forum 32 (2001): 289–96. (Scholar)
• [Rezension: Friedrich Heinrich Gebhard, Ueber die sittliche Güte aus uninteresssirtem Wohlwollen, 1793.
  • “Gebhard Review,” trans. Daniel Breazeale, The Philosophical Forum 32 (2001): 297–310), (Scholar)
• [Rezension:] Aenesidemus, 1794.
  • “Aenesidemus Review.” In Fichte: Early Philosophical Writings (= EPW), trans. and ed. Daniel Breazeale, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988, 2nd ed., 1993. (Scholar)
• Zuricher Vorlesungen über den Begriff der Wissenschaftslehre, 1794.
  • “The Zurich Wissenschaftslehre,” trans. Daniel Breazeale, in Fichte, Foundation of the Entire Wissenschaftslehre and Related Writings (1794–95). ed. and trans. Daniel Breazeale. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021 (hencefore = FWL)
• Ueber den Begriff der Wissenschaftslehre, 1794, 2nd ed. 1798.
  • Concerning the Concept of the Wissenschaftslehre, trans. Breazeale, in EPW. Rev. version in
• Einige Vorlesungen über die Bestimmung des Gelehrten, 1794.
  • Some Lectures Concerning the Scholar’s Vocation, trans. Breazeale, in EPW. (Scholar)
• Grundlage der gesamten Wissenschaftslehre, 1794/95; 2nd edn. 1802;
  • Foundation of the Entire Wissenschaftslehre, trans. Breazeale, in FWL.
  • Science of Knowledge, trans. Peter Heath. In Fichte: Science of Knowledge (Wissenschaftslehre), ed. Peter Heath and John Lachs, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1970; 2nd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982 (= SK).
• Grundriß des Eigenthümlichen der Wissenschaftslehre in Rücksicht auf das theoretische Vermögen, 1795.
  • Outline of the Distinctive Character of the Wissenschaftslehre with respect to the Theoretical Faculty, trans. Breazeale, in EPW; rev. version in FWL. (Scholar)
• Von der Sprachfähigkeit und dem Ursprung der Sprache, 1795.
  • “On the Linguistic Capacity and the Origin of Language,” trans. Jerry Surber, in Language and German Idealism: Fichte’s Linguistic Philosophy, New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1996, pp. 119–45. (Scholar)
• Wissenschaftslehre nova methodo, 1796–1799.
  • Foundations of Transcendental Philosophy (Wissenschaftslehre) nova methodo, trans. and ed. Daniel Breazeale, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992. (Scholar)
• [Rezension:] Kant, Zum ewigen Frieden: Ein philosophisher Entwurf, 1796.
  • “Review of Kant, Perpetual Peace,” trans. Daniel Breazeale, The Philosophical Forum 32 (2001): 311–21. (Scholar)
• Grundlage des Naturrechts nach Principien der Wissenschaftslehre, 1796/97.
  • Foundations of Natural Right, ed. Frederick Neuhouser, trans. Michael Baur, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. (Scholar)
• Versuch einer neuen Darstellung der Wissenschaftslehre: “Erste” und “Zweite Einleitung,” 1797; “Erste Capitel,” 1798.
  • Attempt at a New Presentation of the Wissenschaftslehre. In Introductions to the Wissenschaftslehre and Other Writings (1797–1800) [henceforth = IWL], ed. and trans. Daniel Breazeale, Indianapolis: Hackett, 1994. (Scholar)
  • “First and Second Introductions to The Science of Knowledge”, trans. Peter Heath, in SK. (Scholar)
• Das System der Sittenlehre nach den Principien der Wissenschaftslehre, 1798.
  • The System of Ethics in accordance with the Principles of the Wissenschaftslehre, ed. and trans. Daniel Breazeale and Günter Zöller, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. (Scholar)
• Ueber den Grund unsers Glaubens an eine göttliche Weltregierung, 1798.
  • “On the Basis of our Belief in a Divine Governance of the World,” trans. Breazeale, in IWL. (Scholar)
• J. G. Fichte’s D. Phil. Doctors und Ordentlichen Professors zu Jena Appelation an das Publikum über die durch ein Kurf. Sächs. Confiscationsresccript ihm Beigemessenen Atheistischen Aeusserungen, 1799,
  • J. G. Fichte: Appeal to the Public, trans. Curtis Bowman, in J. G. Fichte and the Atheism Dispute (1798–1800, ed. Yolanda Estes and Curtis Bowman, Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2010, pp. 85–125. (Scholar)
• Der Herausgeber des Philosophischen Journals gerichtliche Verantwortungschriften gegen die Anglage des Atheisums, 1799.
  • J. G. Fichte: Juridical Defense, trans. Curtis Bowman, in J. F. Fichte and the Atheism Dispute, pp. 145–204. (Scholar)
• Aus einem Privatschreiben, 1800.
  • “From a Private Letter,” trans. Breazeale, in IWL. (Scholar)
• Die Bestimmung des Menschen, 1800.
  • The Vocation of Man, trans. Peter Preuss, Indianapolis: Hackett, 1987. (Scholar)
• Der geschlossene Handelstaat, 1800.
  • The Closed Commercial State, trans. Anthony Curtis Adler, Albany, SUNY Press, 2012. (Scholar)
• Sonnenklarer Bericht an das größere Publikum über das eigentliche Wesen der neuesten Philosophie. Ein Versuch, die Leser zum Verstehen zu zwingen, 1801.
  • A Crystal Clear Report to the General Public Concerning the Actual Essence of the Newest Philosophy: An Attempt to Force the Reader to Understand, trans. John Botterman and William Rash, in Philosophy of German Idealism, ed. Ernst Behler, New York: Continuum, 1987. (Scholar)
• Neue Darstellung der Wissenschaftslehre (1800). New Version of the Wissenschaftslehre, 1800,
  • Partial translation by David Wood, in The Philosopical Rupture between Fichte and Schelling: Selected Texts and Correspondence (1800–1802), trans. and ed. Michael G. Vater and David W. Wood, Albany, Albany, Suny Press, 2012. (Scholar)
• Wissenschaftlehre 1804, second series, 1804.
  • The Science of Knowing: Fichte’s 1804 Lectures on the Wissenschaftslehre, trans. Walter E. Wright, Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. (Scholar)
• Der Grundzüge des gegewärtigen Zeitalters, 1806.
  • The Characteristics of the Present Age, in The Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte [henceforth = PWF], trans. William Smith, ed. and with an introduction by Daniel Breazeale, Bristol, England: Thoemes Press, 1999. [These translations were original published between 1848 and 1889.] (Scholar)
• Über des Wesen des Gelehrten, und seine Erscheinungen im Gebiete der Freiheit (1806).
  • On The Nature of the Scholar and Its Manifestations, trans. Smith, in PWF. (Scholar)
• Die Anweisung zum sieligen Leben, oder auch die Religionslehre, 1806.
  • The Way Towards the Blessed Life; or, the Doctrine of Religion, trans. Smith, in PWF. (Scholar)
• Reden an die deutsche Nation (1808).
  • Addresses to the German Nation, trans. Gregory Moore, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. (Scholar)
  • Adresses to the German Nation, trans. Isaac Nakhimovsky, Bela Kapossy, and Keith Tribe, Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 2013.
• Die Wissenschaftslehre, in ihrem allgemeinen Umrisse dargestellt, 1810.
  • “The Science of Knowledge in its General Outline,” trans. Walter E. Wright, Idealistic Studies, 6 (1976): 106–117. (Scholar)
• Sittenlehre 1812, 1812.
  • Lectures on the Theory of Ethics (1812), trans. Benjamin D. Crowe, Albany: SUNY Press, 2015, (Scholar)
• Briefwechsel, 1790–1802. See the selections from Fichte’s correspondence from 1792–1799, trans. Breazeale, in EPW and the selections from his 1800–1801 correspondence with Schelling, trans. Wood, in The Philosophical Rupture between Fichte and Schelling. (Scholar)

Secondary Literature about Fichte and the Wissenschaftslehre

• Adamson, Robert, 1881, Fichte, Edinburgh: Blackwood. [Though woefully out of date, this remains the only full-scale treatment of Fichte in English.] (Scholar)
• Bacin, Stefano and Owen Ware (eds.), 2021, Fichte's System of Ethics: A Critical Guide, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Scholar)
• Baumanns, Peter, 1974, Fichtes Wissenschaftslehre. Probleme ihres Anfangs, Bonn: Bouvier. [Useful exposition of various ways of interpreting the starting point of the first Wissenschaftslehre.] (Scholar)
• –––, 1990, J. G. Fichte: Kritische Gesammtdarstellung seiner Philosophie, Freiburg: Alber. [A critical overview of Fichte’s philosophical development and analysis of his system, concentrating upon the Jena period.] (Scholar)
• Baumgartner, Michael and Jacobs, Wilhelm G., 1968, J. G. Fichte: Bibliographie, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann. [A complete bibliography. Supplemented by Doyé’s bibliography.] (Scholar)
• Breazeale, Daniel, 2013, Thinking Through the Wissenschaftslehre: Themes from Fichte’s Early Philosophy, Oxford, Oxford University Press. (Scholar)
• Breazeale, Daniel and Rockmore, Tom (eds.), 1993, Fichte: Historical Context/Contemporary Controversies, Atlantic Highlands: Humanities. [A collection of essays on various aspects of Fichte’s philosophy. Includes a complete bibliography of works in English by and about Fichte.] (Scholar)
• –––, 1996, New Perspectives on Fichte, Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press. [More essays on various themes from Fichte’s early philosophy.] (Scholar)
• –––, 2001, New Essays on Fichte’s Foundation of the Entire Doctrine of Scientific Knowledge, Amherst, NY: Humanity Books. (Scholar)
• –––, 2002, New Essays on Fichte’s Later Jena Wissenschaftslehre, Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press. [A collection of essays on the Wissenschaftslehre nova methodo, Foundation of Natural Right, System of Ethics, and Atheism Controversy.] (Scholar)
• –––, 2006, Bodies, Rights, and Recognition: New Essays on Fichte’s Foundations of Natural Right, Altdershot: Ashgate. (Scholar)
• –––, 2008, After Jena: New Essays on Fichte’s Later Philosophy, Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press. (Scholar)
• –––, 2010, Fichte, German Idealism, and Early Romanticism, Amsterdam: Rodopi. (Scholar)
• –––, 2013, Fichte’s Vocation of Man: New Interpretative and Critical Essays, Albany, SUNY Press. (Scholar)
• –––, 2016, Fichte’s Addresses to the German Nation, Reconsidered, Albany, SUNY Press. (Scholar)
• Breazeale, Daniel, Rockmore, Tom, and Waibel, Violetta (eds.), 2010, Fichte and the Phenomenological Tradition, Berlin: de Gruyter. (Scholar)
• Bykova, Marina F. (ed.), 2020, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Fichte, London: Bloomsbury Academic. (Scholar)
• Class, Wolfgang and Soller, Alois K., 2004, Kommentar zu Fichtes Grundlage der gesamtem Wissenschaftslehre, Amsterdam: Rodopi. [A line-by-line commentary.] (Scholar)
• Doyé, Sabine (ed.), 1993, J. G. Fichte-Bibliographie (1969–1991), Amsterdam and Atlanta: Editions Rodopi. [An essential supplement to the bibliography by Baumgartner and Jacobs.] (Scholar)
• Gueroult, Martial, 1930, L’evolution et la structure de la doctrine de la science chez Fichte, 2 volumes, Paris: Société de l’édition. [A pioneering developmental study of the Wissenschaftslehre.]
• Everett, Charles Caroll, 1884, Fichte’s Science of Knowledge: A Critical Exposition, Chicago: Griggs. (Scholar)
• “Fichte and Contemporary Philosophy,” special issue of Philosophical Forum, 19 (2–3) (1988). (Scholar)
• Fuchs, Erich (ed.), 1978–1992, J. G. Fichte im Gespräch: Berichte der Zeitgenossen, 6 volumes, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann. [An encyclopedic collection of contemporary reports on Fichte and his writings. An invaluable research tool.] (Scholar)
• Gottlieb, Gabriel (ed.), 2016, Fichte’s Foundations of Natural Right: A Critical Guide, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Scholar)
• Henrich, Dieter, 1967, Fichtes ursprüngliche Einsicht, Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann; trans. David Lachterman, “Fichte’s Original Insight,” Contemporary German Philosophy, 1 (1982): 15–52. [An influential reading of Fichte’s alleged movement beyond a “reflective theory of consciousness.”] (Scholar)
• Hoeltel, Steven (ed.), 2012, The Palgrave Fichte Handbook, Cham: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2019. (Scholar)
• Jacobs, Wilhelm G., 2012, Johann Gottlieb Fichte: Eine Biographie, Berlin, Insel. (Scholar)
• James, David, 2010, Fichte’s Social and Political Philosophy: Property and Value, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Scholar)
• James, David and Günter Zöller (eds.), 2016, The Cambridge Companion to Fichte, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Scholar)
• Janke, Wolfgang, 1970, Fichte: Sein und Reflexion—Grundlagen der kritischen Vernunft, Berlin: de Gruyter. [A hermeneutic-Heideggerian reading of Fichte, with an emphasis upon the later writings.] (Scholar)
• Kosch, Michelle, 2018, Fichte's Ethics, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Scholar)
• Kühn, Manfred, 2012, Johann Gottlieb Fichte: Ein deutscher Philosoph, Munich, C.H. Beck. (Scholar)
• Lauth, Reinhard, 1987, Hegel vor der Wissenschaftslehre, Stuttgart: Steiner-Verlag. [A vigorous and convincing defense of Fichte against Hegel’s criticisms.] (Scholar)
• –––, 1984, Die transzendentale Naturlehre Fichtes nach den Prinzipien der Wissenschaftslehre, Hamburg: Meiner. [A masterful exposition of Fichte’s transcendental approach to the philosophy of nature.] (Scholar)
• –––, 1989, Transzendentale Entwicklungslinien von Descartes bis zu Marx und Dostojewski, Hamburg: Meiner. [A collection of essays, most of them on Fichte, by the leading Fichte scholar of the age.] (Scholar)
• La Vopa, Anthony J., 2001, Fichte. The Self and the Calling of Philosophy, 1762–1799, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Sophisticated partial biography which tries to connect Fichte’s philosophy to his life.] (Scholar)
• Léon, Xavier, 1922–27, Fichte et son temps, 3 volumes, Paris: Armand Colin. (Scholar)
• Martin, Wayne M., 1997, Idealism and Objectivity: Understanding Fichte’s Jena Project, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. [An bracing, critical interpretation of the project of the early Wissenschaftslehre.] (Scholar)
• Nakhimovsky, Isaac, 2011, The Closed Commercial State: Perpetual Peace and Commercial Society from Rousseau to Fichte, Princeton: Princeton University Press. (Scholar)
• Neuhouser, Frederick, 1990, Fichte’s Theory of Subjectivity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [A fine example of a contemporary appropriation of Fichte’s thought and of an analytically sensitive exposition of the same.] (Scholar)
• “New Studies in the Philosophy of Fichte,” special issue of Idealistic Studies, 6 (2) (1979). [A collection of essays on Fichte in English.] (Scholar)
• Oesterreich, Peter L and Helmut Traub, 2006. Der ganze Fichte: Die populäre wissenschaftliche und metaphilosophische Erschließung der Welt, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. (Scholar)
• Pareyson, Luigi, 1976, Fichte. Il sistema della libertà , 2nd edition, Milan: Mursia. [Along with Philonenko’s similarly titled book, Pareyson’s exposition of the early system as a “system of freedom” is one of the most influential works on Fichte of the post-war period.] (Scholar)
• Philonenko, Alexis, 1966, La liberté humaine dans la philosophie de Fichte, Paris: Vrin; 2nd edition, 1980. [A very original and influential study of Fichte’s early philosophy, interpreted as a “philosophy of human finitude.” Essential.] (Scholar)
• Radrizzani, Ives, 1993, Vers la fondation de l’intersubjectivité chez Fichte: des Prinzipes à la Nova Methodo, Paris: Vrin. [Argues for the continuity of Fichte’s development within the Jena period and for the centrality therein of the Wissenschaftslehre nova methodo.] (Scholar)
• Renaut, Alain, 1986, Le système du droit: Philosophie et droit dans la pensée de Fichte, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. [A powerful reading of the Foundation of Natural Right, which argues that political philosophy is the keystone of the Jena Wissenschaftslehre.] (Scholar)
• Rockmore, Tom, 1980, Fichte, Marx, and the German Philosophical Tradition, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. [One of the first successful effort in English to liberate Fichte’s philosophy from the shadow of Hegel.] (Scholar)
• Schäfer, Rainer, 2006, Johann Gottlieb Fichtes “Grundlage der gesamten Wissenschaftslehre” von 1794, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. (Scholar)
• Schwabe, Ulrich, 2007, Individuelles und Transindividuelles Ich. Die Selbstindividutation reiner Subjectivität und Fichtes Wissenschaftslehre, Paderborn, Ferdinand Schöningh. (Scholar)
• Scribner, Scott, 2010, Matters of Spirit: J. G. Fichte and the Technological Imagination, Albany: State University of New York Press. (Scholar)
• Seidel, George J., 1993, Fichte’s Wissenschaftslehre on 1794: A Commentary on Part I, Lafayette: Purdue University Press. [An elementary introduction to the early system. Written with the beginning student in mind.] (Scholar)
• Thomas-Fogiel, Isabelle, 2000, Critique de la représentation: Etude sur Fichte, Paris: Vrin. (Scholar)
• Ware, Owen, 2020, Fichte's Moral Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Scholar)
• Wood, Allen W., 2016, Fichte’s Ethical Thought, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Scholar)
• Wood, David. W., 2011, “Mathesis of the Mind”: A Study of Fichte’s Wissenschaftslehre and Geometry, Amstersdam: Rodopi. (Scholar)
• Wundt, Max, 1929, Fichte-Forschungen, Stuttgart: Frommann. [Another pioneering study of the development of Fichte’s thought, with an emphasis upon the different “spirits” of the various versions of the Wissenschaftslehre.] (Scholar)
• Zöller, Günter, 1998, Fichte’s Transcendental Philosophy: The Original Duplicity of Intelligence and Will, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [A well-informed and stimulating analysis of several central themes from the early Wissenschaftslehre.] (Scholar)

See also the journal Fichte-Studien, Amsterdam and Atlanta: Editions Rodopi, 1990 ff., which appears roughly once a year and publishes papers, most of them in German, on every aspect of Fichte’s life and thought, as well as the occasional newsletter, “Fichteana,” published by the North American Fichte Society (and available at their website).