Kant distinguishes the interest of theoretical reason from the interest of practical reason and tries both to the interest of reason as such, which he conceives of as ultimately «practical». Fichte links the interests of practical and of theoretical reason more closely than does Kant and connects his account of the fundamental interest of reason to his general theory of the «divided self» always struggling for an (inobtainable) unity. For Fichte, there is no real conflict between the interests of theoretical and of practical reason, nor can there be any genuine conflict between reason and interest. On the contrary, reason is always «interested», and the «life of reason» is one of active engagement with the world in a process of endless stri...