By the turn of the century Kantianism had become a respectable, if daring, persuasion in clerical circles; but its most promising acolyte seemed to have strayed beyond the pale. In the early 1790s the young Fichte had suddenly made his presence felt with applications of Kantian philosophy in the volatile areas of religion and politics. His Attempt at a Critique of All'Revelation, published anonymously in 1792, was so Kantian that it was at first mistaken for the master's long-awaited statement on the subject. Welcomed by enthusiasts of the new philosophy, it confirmed others' fears of its anti-religious (or at least anticonfessional) animus. The Critique was immediately followed by an outspoken defense of the French Revolution. As the popular revolution in Paris was reaching its most radical and most violent stage, a young German philosopher argued for the right of the people to overthrow a tyrannical government and abolish the privileges of a corrupt aristocracy. He was branded a Jacobin as well as an atheist, despite his stated conviction that Germany, unlike France, could avoid a violent revolution.

One need only compare these early writings with the famous Addresses to the German Nation, delivered in late 1807 and early 1808, to appreciate how difficult it has been for students of Fichte to sort out continuities and shifts in his construction of an Idealist philosophy. Over this decade and a half his thought moved in several “radical” directions at once; he can arguably be said to have anticipated socialism (or at least “state socialism”) as well as totalitarian democracy and völkisch nationalism.