Fundamental Philosophy, Vol. 2 (of 2)

by Jaime Luciano Balmes

He that can, may understand what is the meaning of a being which is at the same time producing and produced, principle and term of the same action, cause and effect of the same thing. He that can, may understand the meaning of existing in virtue of a mere action, and exercising this action in virtue of existence. If these be not contradictions, I know not what is. In God, who is infinite being, essence, existence, and action are identical; but we cannot say that the action produces his being, that he supposes himself by his action; we say that he exists necessarily, and that it is therefore impossible that he should have been produced, that he should have passed from not-being to being.

132. There occurs to me here a rational explanation of Fichte's language, an explanation which even if admissible would not excuse the philosopher for expressing very simple things in contradictory terms. However, it is this. The soul is an activity; its essence consists in thought, by which it is manifested to its own eyes, and finds itself in the act of consciousness. In this sense we may say that the soul supposes itself, that is, knows itself, takes itself as subject of a proposition to which it applies the predicate of existence. The soul is the principle of its act of consciousness; and thus it is productive; it is also presented in the act of consciousness as object, hence it may also be said, though inexactly, that in the ideal order it is produced; in this way it is the principle and the term of the action, but under different respects. This explanation, whether more or less founded, is at least reasonable and even intelligible, and the basis on which it rests, that the essence of the soul consists in thought, has the name of Descartes in its favor. Thus although we do not defend the words of Fichte, we might at least defend his ideas. But unfortunately, the philosopher has taken good care to prevent even this; his words could not have been more opposed to it.

"We now consider once more," he says, "the proposition: me is me.

"The me is supposed absolutely. If it is admitted that the me which in the above proposition stands in the place of the formal subject is the me supposed absolutely; and that in the place of the predicate means the existing me; it is expressed in the judgment which is absolutely valid, that both are completely one, or supposed absolutely; that the me is, because it has supposed itself."

Every judgment implies identity of the predicate and the subject; but in the proposition: me is me, the identity is not only implied but explicitly asserted; for which reason, the proposition belongs to the class of what are termed identical propositions, because its predicate explains nothing concerning the idea of the subject, but only repeats it. Whence then does Fichte deduce that the me exists because it has supposed itself? So far we have only the me saying: me is me; it affirms itself and thus supposes itself as subject and predicate of a proposition: but it is clearer than day-light that to suppose by affirming is altogether different from supposing by producing: on the contrary, common sense and reason alike teach that the existence of the thing affirmed is necessary to the legitimacy of the affirmation. To confound these two ideas, to consider it the same thing to affirm as to suppose by producing, is an inconceivable absurdity.[53]

133. Explaining this in a note, Fichte adds what follows: "It is also certainly so according to the logical form of every proposition. In the proposition A = A, the first A is that which is supposed in the me either absolutely as the me itself, or on any other ground as every determined not-me. In this case the me represents the absolute subject, and hence the first A is called the subject. The second A denotes what the me, which takes itself as the object of reflection, finds as supposed in itself because it has first supposed it in itself. The judging me predicates something, not properly of A, but of itself, namely, that it finds an A in itself; and hence the second A is called the predicate. So in the proposition: A = B, A denotes that which is supposed now; B that which is found already supposed. It represents the transition of the me from the act of supposing to the reflection on that which is supposed."

What does Fichte mean by this comparison of ideas and of language? Does he mean that in this proposition the me is subject and predicate according to the different aspects under which it is considered? Does he mean that the me, in so far as it occupies the place of subject, expresses simply existence, and that as predicate it is presented as an object of reflection? What does he mean by the word suppose? If he means by it to produce, how is it possible for a thing which is not to produce itself? If he means by it the manifestation of itself, so that the object manifested may serve as the logical term of a proposition, why does he tell us that the me exists because it supposes itself? But let us follow the German philosopher in his wandering deductions.

134. "The me in the first acceptation and that in the second must be absolutely the same. We can therefore invert the above proposition and say: the me supposes itself, absolutely because it is. It supposes itself by its mere being, and is by its mere supposition."

Without defining the sense of the word suppose, without saying any thing more than what all the world knows; that the me is the me; he infers that the me exists because it supposes itself, and supposes itself because it exists: he identifies existence with supposition without even noticing that at least some preliminary remarks were necessary before placing himself in direct opposition with common sense and the doctrines of all philosophers, including Descartes, who make existence necessary for action, and regard it as a contradiction for a thing to be active without existing. Leibnitz thought that there was nothing and could be nothing without a sufficient reason; but thanks to the author of the Doctrine of Science, we may henceforth people the world at pleasure with finite or infinite beings, and if asked whence they came, we may answer that they have been supposed; if we are further asked why they have been supposed, we may answer; because they exist; and if still again asked why they exist, we may say, because they have been supposed; thus we may pass from supposition to existence, and from existence to supposition, without any danger of refutation.

135. Although this philosophy is any thing but clear, it seems to have satisfied its author, who goes on with admirable gravity to say: "Thus, then, it is perfectly clear in what sense we here use the word me, and we are led to a determinate explanation of the me as absolute subject. Every thing whose being (existence) consists solely in its supposing itself as being, is the me, as absolute subject. So far as it supposes itself, it is; and so far as it is, it supposes itself; and the me is therefore absolute and necessary for the me. That which is not for itself is no me." Ideal pantheism could not be established more explicitly, and at the same time more gratuitously; one is astonished to find one's self seriously occupied with such extravagances. They have made a noise, because they have not been known; they ought therefore to be presented to the reader as they are, even at the risk of fatiguing him.