Facts of Consciousness

Facts of Consciousness (German: Die Thatsachen des Bewusstseyns) by Johann Gottlieb Fichte was origianally published in 1817, and translated into English by Adolph Ernst Kroeger in 1868. The pathway from the world of sense to the world above sense is laid by the experimental knowledge of the human mind. The "Facts of Consciousness" must be investigated, for they are the measure of the true essence of the soul. These facts of consciousness are not, however, those of the ordinary psychologist. "We must take the mind of humanity at large, in the fullness of its ideal life (theoretical, artistic, ethical, and religious), and in the might of its preternatural activity, as the real starting-point." In addition to thiB, we must weigh carefully even those facts whioh are rare and exceptional. These spring from a source lying within the region of preconsciousness. For the soul is preconsious and preexistent.