Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) takes on Rousseau 1794
Channel: Craig Campbell
Date: 23/03/2014

Johann Gottlieb Fichte delivered this lecture, "The Vocation of the Scholar", in 1794 during the early years of the French Revolution. He took a look at Jean-Jacques Rousseau's book, "A Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences", which was written in 1750. Rousseau advocated a return to "Nature" as a way to get away from super sensualism and get back to being "reasonable beings". Johann Fichte disagreed. His book is a good read as is Rousseau's.

This lecture is titled "Examination of Rousseau's Doctrines Concerning the Influence of Art and Science on the Well-being of Man" 

The Vocation of the Scholar created a new class in society, The Scholarly Class.  You can read about the requirements for the Scholar below.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Vocation_of_the_Scholar

"A Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences"
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/r/rousseau/jean_jacques/arts/