Natural Law Foundation Ping (Translation of Famous Works)

Author: [German] Fichte, translated by Xie Dikun, Cheng Zhimin
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Features: This book was previously included in the Selected Works of Fichte, Volume 2 (Commercial Press, 1994). Given that it is the most profound and comprehensive treatise in German classical philosophy that embodies the democratic principle, it is now published as a standalone volume to provide it to a broader readership. As a classic German work and a world academic masterpiece, it has been published in various languages multiple times. To the best of my knowledge, there are six German editions: the original edition, Part 1, published in Jena and Leipzig in 1796; Part 2, published in Jena and Leipzig in 1797. The second edition, included in the Complete Works of Fichte, edited by I. H. Fichte, Berlin, 1845. The third edition, Leipzig, 1908. The fourth edition, Leipzig, 1922, included in Meiner's Philosophical Series, Volume 128. The fifth edition, Hamburg, 1960, included in Meiner's Philosophical Series, Volume 256. The sixth edition, included in the Complete Works of Fichte, Volume I of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Part 1, Stuttgart, 1966; Part 2, Stuttgart, 1970. Translations into other languages include: 1. English edition, translated by A. E. Kroeger, edition, Philadelphia, 1869; second edition, London, 1889; third edition, New York, 1970. Translated by M. Bauer, Cambridge and New York, 2000. 2. French edition, translated by A. Renaut, Paris, 1984. 3. Italian edition, translated by L. Fonnesu, Rome, 1994. 4. Japanese edition, included in the Japanese edition of the Complete Works of Fichte, Volume 6, published by Itami, 1997.
This book was translated by Xie Dikun and Cheng Zhimin a decade ago, based on the Complete Works of Fichte, Volume I of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Parts 3 and 4. We revised Xie Dikun's "Introduction" and , Parts 2, 3, and 4, as well as Cheng Zhimin's "Introduction to Family Law" and "Introduction to International Law and World Citizen Law." Taking this opportunity to publish it as a standalone volume, the translators and I have made further revisions and corrections, doing our best to address any errors.
Regarding the translation of names, there are two points to note. , Rechtsgesetz is uniformly translated as "legal right law" because it is relative to Naturgesetz (natural law), just as Sittengesetz (moral law) is also relative to Naturgesetz. Specifically, Naturgesetz refers to the necessary laws governing the entire natural world, while Rechtsgesetz and Sittengesetz are the laws that respectively govern two social domains, characterized by freedom. Second, Vernunftwesen was originally translated as "rational being," but it is now translated as "rational entity." The reason is that Fichte regards humans as "finite rational entities" (endliches Vernunftwesen) and God as "infinite rational entities" (unendliches Vernunftwesen), so we cannot say that God is an "infinite rational being," and thus translating Wesen as "entity" may be more accurate. Of course, when referring to natural things, we translate unvernünftiges Wesen as "irrational being."
The full title of this book is The Foundation of Natural Law Based on the Principles of Wissenschaftslehre. It means that this is a study of the legal domain of human society applied through the principles of Wissenschaftslehre. Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre is both a new metaphysics and a new logic, so understanding this book from the perspective of its metaphysical foundation will undoubtedly present certain challenges. I often hear friends say that the latter half of this book is easier to understand than the former half, and the reason may lie here. However, just as we cannot ignore the more challenging "Dao Jing" when studying Laozi's Tao Te Ching by only focusing on the relatively easier "De Jing," we should not overlook the philosophical parts when reading a classic work of legal philosophy by only focusing on the legal aspects.
To overcome this difficulty, we might read Fichte's popular works on Wissenschaftslehre from his Jena period before tackling this book, such as On the Concept of Wissenschaftslehre and New Perspectives on Wissenschaftslehre, to gain the necessary preparatory knowledge in the field of metaphysics. This may help us better understand this classic philosophical treatise.