Towards a Politics of the Transcendental. Education and Subjectivation in Fichte’s Doctrine of the State (1813)

The article aims to examine the relationship between transcendental philosophy and politics considering the concept of “applied philosophy” (angewandte Philosophie) developed by Fichte in his 1813 lectures known as the Doctrine of the State (Staatslehre). The goal is to draw from Fichte’s text the resources to speak of an authentic “politics of the transcendental,” that is, a political-transformative (both critical and constructive) valorization of the knowledge of the doctrine of science. I will highlight how the political application of the transcendental raises the problem of defining alternative models of subjectivity, no longer compromised by the dogmatism underlying the utilitarian and proprietary vision of modern sovereignty (the so-called “State of owners”). Education (Bildung) will prove to be a crucial practice, which will make it possible to measure the limits and potential of Fichtean political thought.