The Fichtean Prisoner of Chillon

The notion and place of the ‘I’ has always been controversial within the realm of philosophy. Its association to self-determinacy, self-consciousness and self-recognition is indubitable. This paper attempts at analyzing the Byronic Hero in association with the Fichtean notion of subjectivity. As a revisionist of Kant’s philosophy, Fichte explained that the subject has the quality of self-positioning and being active, making the object dependent on the subjective perception. The I is considered active because thinking, according to Fichte, is called acting and all experiences constitute the individual’s consciousness. Being aware and conscious of the self I while interacting with the other Is is the act of summoning and an activity through which one’s self develops into self-consciousness.