This paper analyses the first part of Fichte’s Staatslehre 1813, which represents a
reconstruction and a reading of the history of humanity from the point of view of transcendental
philosophy. Fichte traces the scientific nature of the interpretation of history back to
the presupposition of God’s manifestation; from this instance the doctrine of science infers
the very structure of knowledge. This is an infinite leaning towards oneness, towards the
absolute, towards that, which cannot be reduced to concept. The scientific nature of history,
the correctness of the evaluation of the past and the present, thus come to depend not on
a consideration of the facts, not on an analysis of what has happened, but on a propensity
towards the future, the ideal, which is continuous and irreducible, yet constitutive for philosophical
understanding and acting in general.
