Ontologism and irrationalism in Fichte’s philosophy of law in interpretation by B. P. Vysheslavcev

The main purpose for this article is to analyze the interpretation of philosophy of law by German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) made by Russian philosopher Boris Petrovich Vysheslavcev (1877-1954). The author notes the necessity of re-interpretation Fichte’s conception and consider that interpretation by Vysheclavcev as the most original and modern despite he made it one hundred years ago. Also author analyses the question about the main influence on Vysheslavcev’s methodology and make a conclusion that his ideas was influenced by the Intuitivism by A. Bergson and “ontology” by N. Gartman. And, no doubt, European Neo-Kantianism, “the back-to Kant” movement. Vysheslavcev had lived in Marburg for two year. It was scientific training. In Marburg he meted with H. Cohen, P. Natorp. When he came back in Russia in 1914 he defended his dissertation “Fichte’s ethics. Basics of law and morality in transcendentional philosophy” and published it as a book. In 1914 was Fichne’s anniversary: one hundred from his death and Russian philosophers made special edition on the main philosophical journal fir this date. But it is the symbolic coincidence that Vysheslavcev’s book was published in the same year. We can trace the evolution of Vysheslavcev’s views on Fichte’s ideas from 1908 (when he write a first paper about Fichte’s socialism) till 1914. The main Vysheslavcev’s discovery is that in there is the irrational base in Fichte’s system: the most deep quality of the reality is its irrational character. This quality applies to all levels of being include the man. It explains the contradictory nature of human motives and actions. And also it applies to the Law. The essence of Law is in the contract structure. When the people agree with each other by making agreement they make the order from chaos. The Fichte’s system is ethical, ontological and tried to find the Absolute, says Vysheslavcev. And this idea is deserve to be better known in the world philosophy. However the Vysheslavcev’s philosophy of law, complex concept of irrationality, unconscious, sociality, and God.