Page:Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1889) Vol 2.djvu/187

 entirely a Sovereign in respect of his necessary purpose as a member of the Race, and entirely a Subject in respect of the application of his individual powers:—and all are therefore both Sovereign and Subject in the same manner.

Such is the case in reference to the State, when taken in its strictest sense, as we have described it above,—i.e. as an Idea. It is a wholly different question, possessing nothing in common with the former one,—Who then shall understand and measure this purpose of the State given to it in reality, although not openly, by the Community as a whole, and, by means of this estimate, guide the power of the Citizens, and compel such as may oppose themselves thereto?—in one word, Who shall govern? Since it is impossible that any higher estimate of the purpose which has been given to the State by the Community as a whole can find a place in the State itself,—all other powers and capacities in the State being subjected to this supreme estimate and guided thereby;—it follows that this estimate is associated with external independence and freedom; and indeed with Political Freedom, if the Greek word from which this expression is derived may be applied to the active and efficient administration of a State. The former question would regard the Constitution of the State, which is and ought to be absolutely determined by Reason alone: the question now raised is directed to the Form of Government.

It is evident, that with respect to the latter, only two cases are possible: either all individuals without exception take part by right, and in a perfectly equal degree, in this estimate, and, by means of it, in the direction of all the powers of the State; and then All are partakers of Political Freedom, and are so in an equal degree:—or this estimate, and the direction consequent upon it, is given over exclusively to a certain number of individuals:—which latter case, according to our previous investigations, amounts to