Fichte's Normative Ethics: Deontology and Hybrid Perfectionism, Part II

ABSTRACT

The following essay, which comes in two parts, examines three prominent readings of Fichte's normative ethics: a consequentialist reading, a deontological reading, and a hybrid reading. An alternative to the current hybrid readings on offer is provided. The alternative hybrid reading endorses the view that Fichte's ethics (1) qualifies as a form of perfectionism, and particularly a form of normative perfectionism, (2) presents self‐sufficiency as an agent‐neutral value to be perfected, and (3) argues that his normative perfectionism accepts an agent‐centered restriction on how the agent‐neutral value of self‐sufficiency is to be promoted. Part II critically examines the most prominent deontological reading of Fichte's ethics and an influential hybrid reading that views Fichte's ethics as incorporating teleological and deontological commitments. An alternative hybrid reading is presented that reconsiders how the deontological commitment should be understood. The essay concludes by examining worries or objections one might have to Fichte's normative perfectionism in general or the alternative hybrid reading in particular.