THE  IDEA    OF   THE  EGO.  6 1

appearance  of  new  values,  the  realization  of  the  Idea  in  unique
forms.  **  For  me,"  he  cries  out  in  the  Bestimnumg  des  Menschen,
"  the  universe  is  no  longer,  as  formerly,  that  circle  returning  into
itself,  that  play  of  ceaseless  self-repetition,  that  monster  which
devours  itself  only  to  bring  itself  to  the  birth  again  ;  before  my
gaze  it  is  now  spiritualized  and  bears  the  characteristic  stamp  of
the  spirit  —  constant  progress  toward  the  more  perfect  in  a
straight  line  which  goes  out  to  infinity."  ^

It  is  in  connection  with  this  doctrine  of  history  as  the  produc-
tion of  the  new,  that  Fichte  gives  us  some  hints  with  regard  to
the  nature  of  the  individual  which  are  of  importance  for  our  pur-
pose. In  the  first  place,  the  mere  insistence  upon  the  thought
that  the  Idea  of  the  Ego,  or  as  Fichte  more  often  designates  it
in  the  later  writings,  the  divine  Idea,  is  continually  realizing  itself
in  rinv  forms,  seems  to  show  that  the  goal  is  not  conceived  as  the
disappearance  of  all  content.  But  this  general  consideration  is
supplemented  by  some  definite  statements  as  to  the  nature  of
individuality  which  suggest  that  the  progress  of  the  race  does  not
consist  in  doing  away  with  individual  differences,  but  rather  in
developing  them.  We  are  told  more  than  once  that  each  person
has  his  peculiar  vocation,  which  no  one  save  himself  can  perform.
