SOURCE: "Women, Family, and State in Fichte's Philosophy of Freedom," in New Perspectives on Fichte, edited by Tom Rockmore and Daniel Breazeale, Humanities Press, 1996, pp. 179-91.

In the following essay, which was presented in 1993 and first published in 1996, Morrison sets forth the apparent contradiction in Fichte's treatment of women—they both have rights and do not have rights—and then demonstrates how Fichte's assumptions allowed for this apparent paradox.

I. Introduction

As Fichte called his philosophy the first system of freedom, it would be interesting to know his position on the rights of women as it can be argued that the position of women in society is a sensitive barometer of the freedom and rights within the society as a whole. It also happens to be the case that the position of women in Fichte's philosophy has largely been ignored.¹

Fichte discusses women at length in The Science...