[Literature] Johann Gottlieb Fichte: Facts of Consciousness #7/65

It is through this having causality that that life of knowledge (the Ego) rises above the object (the non-Ego); for it is not like the object, a dead, permanent being, but a living producing. But in its moments of perception it is confined to this condition of having causality, and, since it cannot generally be confined, it is confined in those moments to a determined causality.

2. The second development of that life, or of the Ego, liberates itself from this confinedness, signifies therefore: the Ego, or life, rises beyond this, having causality through its mere existence, and hence checks this immediate outpouring of its life. But it certainly cannot thereby annihilate all its life. What, then, is it that remains? Evidently a principle which is not a cause through its immediate existence, but which can become such a cause only through the free activity that has arisen through this very new life-development itself. In short, it becomes a principle which, as such, has its separate independent existence, whereas at the first it had existence only as an actual causality. It has, in fact, put its causality, which on the first stage of consciousness was not in its power, now under its newly developed control. Instead of having as at first a simple existence, it has now attained a double one: a second new being which floats freely over that first simple one; a being which, as its freedom may choose, can be either a permanent self-determined principle, or an unchecked flow of causality.

3. All being of a determined freedom results in a determined knowledge; hence, now that life has made itself a principle, there arises necessarily an immediate consciousness of itself as such a principle. Can this new consciousness be closer characterized?

It certainly has freed itself from a knowledge to which it at first was confined, a knowledge of the object; and through this freeing there has arisen for it a new knowledge, a knowledge of knowledge. But in the same undivided life-moment there has arisen for it a knowledge of itself as a principle, and thus the knowledge of a principle joins together with the knowledge of knowledge into a substantial body of knowledge, a knowing one who is one and the same with the principle; in short, an Ego. I, the knowing, am at the same time the principle which has been liberated from immediate causality. The consciousness, I, starts from a reflection of knowledge and proceeds to that knowledge as a principle; and both become one through their inseparable union in the condition of reflection.

4. Now this Ego, thus first created through the free development of life and entering consciousness, can either remain in this checkedness of its life-development, or surrender itself unto a free constructing of the power of imagination, or surrender itself to external perception.

5. The question now is: whether at this stage of life external perception is in its inner form precisely as it was previously or not. I maintain that it is not precisely so, and everything depends upon getting an insight into this distinction.

a. Through this new development a total change and alteration in the life of consciousness has occurred. Previously this life had causality through its mere being, but now it has no such causality at all; only through its own free act can anything arise in it. It never can even sink back to that previous condition after once having risen above it.

b. Nevertheless the essence of external perception consists precisely in this, that consciousness has causality through its mere being. How, then, can a consciousness, which is no longer a causality, through its mere being perceive externally?

c. Because, although it is no longer confined to that first condition, it can voluntarily surrender itself to it. It can make itself to be a consciousness which has causality through its mere being. Such a making or surrendering is well known to every person under the name of Attention. The first being, which always remains but does not absorb the being of consciousness, has been joined by a second being which controls the first one. This second being can never be annihilated, but may well surrender itself voluntarily to the first one.

An Illustration.—The perception of a plant by a child before the development of its self-consciousness is distinguished from the attention given by the natural philosopher to the same plant in this manner: the child, if awake, cannot help but see this plant if it falls within its range of vision, since its consciousness is altogether incapable of entertaining another series of observations.