The first translation into any language of J.G Fichte's classic introductory course – specifically, the 1797 summer semester – as well as of Ernst Platner's Philosophical Aphorisms, the latter which is abridged to reproduce the parts of the text to which Fichte responds.

When selecting his textbook for the course, Fichte followed the example of colleagues and predecessors at the University of Jena such as K.L. Reinhold and C.C.E. Schmid in using Platner's Philosophical Aphorisms, a text that was as famous at the time as its author. Fichte used the third edition of this text (1793), which distinguished itself from the previous editions above all in its reception and critique of Kant's critical philosophy.

Fichte's lectures are distinguished from his other works not only by their unusually clear style, but also by the variety of topics within them that are rarely, if ever discussed by Fichte – a benefit largely attributable to Platner's comprehensive Aphorisms. This includes “psychological” topics like attention, memory, and mental imagery, as well as formal logic, cosmology, and nature in general. It also includes what are likely Fichte's most extensive discussions of the body, language, religion, and the history of philosophy.

Accompanied by an introduction explaining the historical and philosophical context of both Platner's Aphorisms and Fichte's lectures, this much-needed translation demonstrates the importance of Platner to the history of philosophy as well as to Fichte in particular; it is also serves as a useful comparison of two very different philosophical responses to Kant's philosophical revolution.