The Vocation of Man

...any darker or lighter, fresher or more faded than it actually is; even though I lack the scale scale: Maasstab, a ruler or standard of measurement and the words for this determination determination: Bestimmung, the state of being defined by specific qualities. If I cast my gaze upon this plant; it stands at a specific stage between its germination germination: Entkeimen and its ripeness; no closer to or further from either than it actually is. — Everything that exists is thoroughly determined; it is what it is, and absolutely nothing else.

It is not as if I were unable to think of anything hovering in the middle between contradictory determinations. I certainly think of indeterminate objects indeterminate objects: unbestimmte Gegenstände, and more than half of my thinking consists of such thoughts. I think of a tree in general original: einen Baum überhaupt. Fichte is distinguishing between a specific physical tree and the abstract mental concept of "tree-ness.". Does this tree in general have fruit or not, leaves or not, and if it has them, what is their number? To what genus genus: Gattung, a botanical or logical classification of trees does it belong? How tall is it? and so on. All these questions remain unanswered, and my