Christian Wolff (less correctly Wolf; also known as Wolfius), baron, (24 January 1679 - 9 April 1754) was a German A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state, philosopher Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It is distinguished from other ways of addressing fundamental questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word "philosophy" comes from the.
He was the most eminent German philosopher between Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɔtfʁiːt ˈvɪlhɛlm fɔn ˈlaɪpnɪts] (July 1, 1646 - June 21, 1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher. He wrote primarily in Latin and French and Kant Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was an 18th-century German philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg. Kant was the last influential philosopher of modern Europe in the classic sequence of the theory of knowledge during the Enlightenment beginning with thinkers John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume. His main achievement was a complete oeuvre on almost every scholarly subject of his time, displayed and unfolded according to his demonstrative-deductive, mathematical method, which perhaps represents the peak of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment is the era in Western philosophy and intellectual, scientific and cultural life, centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority rationality In philosophy, rationality is the exercise of reason, a key method used to analyze the data gained through systematically gathered observations in Germany A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state,.
Wolff was also the creator of German as the language of scholarly instruction and research, although he also wrote in Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native speakers, a small number of scholars can fluently speak it and it continues to be taught in schools and universities and has been, and currently is, used in the process of, so that an international audience could, and did, read him. A founding father of, among other fields, economics Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek οἰκονομία from οἶκος (oikos, "house") + νόμος (nomos, "custom" or "law"), hence "rules of the house(hold)". Current economic and public administration Public administration is the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day." Any unelected, public employee is a public administrator: police officers, municipal budget analysts, HR benefits administrators, city managers, Census analysts, and cabinet secretaries are public administrators. Public administrators are as academic disciplines, he concentrated especially in these fields, giving advice on practical matters to people in government A government is the organization, or agency through which a political unit exercises its authority, controls and administers public policy, and directs and controls the actions of its members or subjects, and stressing the professional nature of university education.
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Life
Plaque on building in Wrocław Wrocław [ˈvrɔt͡swaf] (German: Breslau ( listen)) is the chief city in south-western Poland, situated on the River Oder (Polish: Odra). Over the centuries, the city has been either part of Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia or Germany. Wrocław is the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. According to official population figures for June (Breslau) where Wolff was born and lived, 1679–99Wolff was born in Breslau Wrocław [ˈvrɔt͡swaf] (German: Breslau ( listen)) is the chief city in south-western Poland, situated on the River Oder (Polish: Odra). Over the centuries, the city has been either part of Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia or Germany. Wrocław is the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. According to official population figures for June, Silesia Silesia (pronounced /saɪˈliːʒə/ or /saɪˈliːʃə/; Polish: Śląsk [ɕlɔ̃sk]; German: Schlesien ; Silesian German: Schläsing; Czech: Slezsko; Silesian: Ślůnsk [ɕlonsk]; Latin: Silesia) is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany into a modest family. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Jena Friedrich Schiller University of Jena is located in Jena, Thuringia in Germany and was renamed for the German writer Friedrich Schiller in 1934, soon adding philosophy. In 1703, he qualified as Privatdozent Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications (doctorate and habilitation) to become a tenured university professor. With respect to the level of academic achievement, the title at the University of Leipzig The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in Europe and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. It has a long tradition of globally oriented and culturally comparative historical research and tertiary-level teaching, where he lectured until 1706, when he was called as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy to the University of Halle The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg , also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg within Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. MLU offers German and international (English) courses leading to academic degrees such as B.A., B.Sc., M.A., M.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc., and Habilitation. By this time he had made the acquaintance of Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɔtfʁiːt ˈvɪlhɛlm fɔn ˈlaɪpnɪts] (July 1, 1646 - June 21, 1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher. He wrote primarily in Latin and French, of whose philosophy his own system is a modified version. At Halle, Wolff at first restricted himself to mathematics, but on the departure of a colleague, he added physics, and soon included all the main philosophical disciplines.
However, the claims Wolff advanced on behalf of philosophical reason In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive" (Bourke 263). Different degrees of emphasis on this method or appeared impious to his theological colleagues. Halle was the headquarters of Pietism Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to begin the Brethren movement. The Pietist movement, which, after a long struggle against Lutheran Lutheranism is a theological movement to reform Christianity with the teaching of justification by grace through faith alone. Lutheranism identifies with the theology confessed in the Augsburg Confession and the other writings compiled in the Book of Concord. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology dogmatism Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from. The term derives from Greek δόγμα "that which seems to one, opinion or belief" and that from δοκέω , "to think, to suppose, to imagine". The, had itself assumed the characteristics of a new orthodoxy. Wolff's professed ideal was to base theological truths on mathematically certain evidence. Strife with the Pietists broke out openly in 1721, when Wolff, on the occasion of stepping down as pro-rector, delivered an oration "On the Practical Philosophy of the Chinese" (Eng. tr. 1750), in which he praised the purity of the moral precepts of Confucius His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values gained prominence in China over other doctrines, such as Legalism or Taoism (道家) during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as, pointing to them as an evidence of the power of human reason to reach moral truth by its own efforts.
As a consequence, Wolff was ousted in 1723 from his first chair at Halle Halle is the largest city in the German State of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia. The current official name of the city is Halle (Saale) in one of the most celebrated academic dramas of the 18th century. His enemies had gained the ear of the king Frederick William I and told him that, if Wolff's determinism were recognized, no soldier who deserted could be punished, since he would only have acted as it was necessarily predetermined that he should. This so enraged the king that he immediately deprived Wolff of his office, and commanded him to leave Prussian territory within 48 hours or be hanged. The same day Wolff passed into Saxony, and presently proceeded to Marburg Marburg is a city in Hessen, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of September 2009, is 79,454 in Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a reichsfreie principality of the Holy Roman Empire that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the capital of Kassel. The other sons received the (or Hesse-Cassel), to whose university The Philipps University of Marburg , was founded in 1527 by Landgrave Philip I of Hesse (usually called the Magnanimous, although the updated meaning 'haughty' is sometimes given) as the world's oldest university dating back to a Protestant foundation. As a modern state university it has no religious bias anymore he had received a call even before this crisis, which was now renewed. The Landgrave Landgrave was a title only used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor. His jurisdiction stretched over a sometimes quite considerable territory, which was not subservient to an intermediate power like a Duke, a Bishop or Count Palatine of Hesse received him with every mark of distinction, and the circumstances of his expulsion drew universal attention to his philosophy. It was everywhere discussed, and over two hundred books and pamphlets appeared for or against it before 1737, not reckoning the systematic treatises of Wolff and his followers.
At the University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg , was founded in 1527 by Landgrave Philip I of Hesse (usually called the Magnanimous, although the updated meaning 'haughty' is sometimes given) as the world's oldest university dating back to a Protestant foundation. As a modern state university it has no religious bias anymore, as one of the most popular and fashionable university teachers in Europe, he increased matriculation figures within five years by about 50%. In 1740 Frederick William died, and one of the first acts of his son and successor, Frederick the Great Frederick II was a King of Prussia (1740–1786) from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was Frederick IV (Friedrich IV.) of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel. He became known as Frederick the Great (Friedrich der Große) and was, an admirer of Wolff, was to recall him to Halle. His entry into the town on 6 December 1740 took on the character of a triumphal procession. In 1743, he became chancellor of the university, and in 1745, he received the title of Freiherr (Baron Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning "(free) man, (free) warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman") from the Elector of Bavaria Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪ.ɐn] ; Alemannic German: Freistaat Bayre; Austro-Bavarian: Freistoot Boarn), is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of the country. With an area of 70,548 square kilometres (27,200 sq mi), it is by far the largest German state by area,. But his matter was no longer fashionable, he had outlived his power of attracting students, and his class-rooms remained, while not empty, then certainly emptier than they had been during his heyday in Marburg.
When Wolff died on 9 April 1754, he was a very wealthy man, almost entirely due to his income from lecture-fees, salaries, and royalties. He was also a member of many academies and probably the first scholar to have been created hereditary Baron Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning "(free) man, (free) warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman" of the Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire (HRE; German: Heiliges Römisches Reich , Latin: Imperium Romanum Sacrum (IRS), Italian: Sacro Romano Impero (SRI)) was for about a millennium a realm in Central Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in on the basis of his academic work. His school, the Wolffians, was the first school, in the philosophical sense, associated with a German philosopher. It dominated Germany until the rise of Kantianism Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was an 18th-century German philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg. Kant was the last influential philosopher of modern Europe in the classic sequence of the theory of knowledge during the Enlightenment beginning with thinkers John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume.
The mountain Mons Wolff on the Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite[nb 4] and is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. It is the largest natural satellite in the Solar System relative to the size of its planet, a quarter the diameter of Earth and 1/81 its mass, and is the second densest satellite after Io. It is in synchronous rotation with Earth, always got its name in his honour.
Philosophy
Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (German pronunciation: [ˈgɔtfrit ˈvɪlhɛlm fən ˈlaɪpnɪts]; 1 July 1646 [OS: 21 June] – 14 November 1716) was a German philosopher, polymath and mathematician who wrote primarily in Latin and FrenchThe Wolffian philosophy held almost undisputed sway in Germany until it was displaced by the Kantian Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was an 18th-century German philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg. Kant was the last influential philosopher of modern Europe in the classic sequence of the theory of knowledge during the Enlightenment beginning with thinkers John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume revolution, due partly to his distinctive habit of writing in both Latin and German. Wolff's philosophy has, until a reevaluation set in the 1960s, often been held to be a common-sense adaptation or watering-down of the Leibnizian Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɔtfʁiːt ˈvɪlhɛlm fɔn ˈlaɪpnɪts]; born 1 July 1646 in Leipzig [OS: 21 June] – died in Hannover 14 November 1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher who wrote primarily in Latin and French system; or, more charitably, Wolff was said to have methodized and "reduced" to dogmatic form the thoughts of his great predecessor.
These are mainly his comprehensive view of philosophy, as embracing in its survey the whole field of human knowledge, his insistence everywhere on clear and methodic exposition, and his confidence in the power of reason to reduce all subjects to this form. The Wolffian system retains the determinism and optimism of Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɔtfʁiːt ˈvɪlhɛlm fɔn ˈlaɪpnɪts] (July 1, 1646 - June 21, 1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher. He wrote primarily in Latin and French, but the monadology The Monadology is one of Gottfried Leibniz’s best known works representing his later philosophy. It is a short text which sketches in some 90 paragraphs a metaphysics of simple substances, or monads recedes into the background, the monads falling asunder into souls or conscious beings on the one hand and mere atoms on the other. The doctrine of the pre-established harmony also loses its metaphysical significance - while remaining an important heuristic Heuristic is an adjective for experience-based techniques that help in problem solving, learning and discovery. Archimedes is said to have shouted "Heureka" (later converted to "Eureka") after discovering the principle of displacement in his bath. A heuristic method is used to come to a solution rapidly that is hoped to be device - and the principle of sufficient reason The principle of sufficient reason states that anything that happens does so for a definite reason. In virtue of which no fact can be real or no statement true unless it has sufficient reason why it should not be otherwise. It is usually attributed to Gottfried Leibniz, although the first person to use it was Anaximander of Miletus introduced by Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɔtfʁiːt ˈvɪlhɛlm fɔn ˈlaɪpnɪts] (July 1, 1646 - June 21, 1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher. He wrote primarily in Latin and French is once more discarded in favor of the principle of contradiction which Wolff seeks to make the fundamental principle of philosophy.
Philosophy is defined by him as the science of the possible, and divided, according to the two faculties of the human individual, into a theoretical and a practical part. Logic, sometimes called philosophia rationalis, forms the introduction or propaedeutics to both. Theoretical philosophy has for its parts ontology Ontology (from the Greek ὄν, genitive ὄντος: "of being" and -λογία, -logia: science, study, theory) is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality in general, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations. Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of philosophy known as or philosophia prima, cosmology Cosmology , in strict usage, refers to the study of the Universe in its totality as it now is (or at least as it can be observed now), and by extension, humanity's place in it. Though the word cosmology is recent (first used in 1730 in Christian Wolff's Cosmologia Generalis), study of the universe has a long history involving science, philosophy,, rational psychology and natural theology; ontology treats of the existent in general, psychology of the soul as a simple non-extended substance, cosmology of the world as a whole, and rational theology of the existence and attributes of God. These are best known to philosophical students by Kant's treatment of them in the Critique of Pure Reason. Practical philosophy is subdivided into ethics, economics and politics. Wolff's moral principle is the realization of human perfection - seen realistically as the kind of perfection the human person actually can achieve in the world in which we live. It is perhaps the combination of Enlightenment optimism and worldly realism that made Wolff so successful and popular as a teacher of future states- and business leaders.
Works
Wolff's most important works are as follows:
- Anfangsgründe aller mathematischen Wissenschaften (1710); in Latin, Elementa matheseos universae, 1713-1715)
- Vernünftige Gedanken von den Kräften des menschlichen Verstandes (1712; Eng. trans. 1770)
- Vern. Ged. von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen, auch allen Dingen überhaupt (1719)
- Vern. Ged. von der Menschen Thun und Lassen (1720)
- Vern. Ged. von dem gesellschaftlichen Leben der Menschen (1721)
- Vern. Ged. von den Wirkungen der Natur (1723)
- Vern. Ged. von den Absichten der natürlichen Dinge (1724)
- Vern. Ged. von dem Gebrauche der Theile in Menschen, Thieren und Pflanzen (1725); the last seven may briefly be described as treatises on logic Logic is the study of arguments. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, and computer science. Logic examines general forms which arguments may take, which forms are valid, and which are fallacies. It is one kind of critical thinking. In philosophy, the study of logic, metaphysics Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world although it is not easily defined.. Someone who studies metaphysics would be called either a metaphysicist or a metaphysician, moral philosophy, political philosophy, theoretical physics, teleology Teleology is the philosophical study of the idea that final causes exist, of evidence that design and purpose are inherent in nature. The word comes from the Greek τέλος - telos, root: τελε-, "end, purpose.", physiology
- Philosophia rationalis, sive logica (1728)
- Philosophia prima, sive Ontologia (1730)
- Cosmologia generalis (1731)
- Psychologia empirica (1732)
- Psychologia rationalis (1734)
- Theologia naturalis (1736-1737)
- Kleine philosophische Schriften, collected and edited by G.F. Hagen (1736-1740).
- Philosophia practica universalis (1738-1739)
- Jus naturae and Jus Gentium (1740-1749)
- Philosophia moralis (1750-1753).
Wolff's complete writings have been published since 1962 in an annotated reprint collection, and thus are easily accessible:
- Gesammelte Werke, Jean École et al. (eds.), 3 series (German, Latin, and Materials), Hildesheim-[Zürich-]New York: Olms, 1962-.
This includes a volume that unites the three most important older biographies of Wolff.
An excellent modern edition of the famous Halle speech on Chinese philosophy is
- Oratio de Sinarum philosophia practica / Rede über die praktische Philosophie der Chinesen, Michael Albrecht (ed.), Hamburg: Meiner, 1985.
See also
References
- Bianco, Bruno, Libertá e fatalismo. Sulla polemica tra Joachim Lange e Christian Wolff, in: Verifiche 15 (1986), pp. 43−89, again in: Bianco, Fede et sapere. La parabola dell' Aufklärung tra pietismo e idealismo, Neapel 1992, pp. 31−84, German translation by Norbert Hinske, Freiheit gegen Fatalismus. Zu Joachim Langes Kritik an Wolff, in: Zentren der Aufklärung I. Halle. Aufklärung und Pietismus, ed. by Norbert Hinske, Heidelberg 1989, pp. 111−155.
- European Journal of Law and Economics 4(2) (Summer 1997), special issue on Christian Wolff, reprinted 1998 in the Gesammelte Werke, 3rd Ser. Note especially the essays by Jürgen G. Backhaus ("Christian Wolff on Subsidiarity, the Division of Labor, and Social Welfare"), Wolfgang Drechsler ("Christian Wolff (1679-1754): A Biographical Essay"), Erik S. Reinert and Arno Mong Daastøl ("Exploring the Genesis of Economic Innovations: The religious Gestalt-Switch and the Duty to Invent as Preconditions for Economic Growth"), and Peter R. Senn ("Christian Wolff in the Pre-History of the Social Sciences").
- Goebel, Julius, "Christian Wolff and the Declaration of Independence", in Deutsch-Amerikanische Geschichtsblätter. Jahrbuch der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Gesellschaft von Illinois 18/19 (Jg. 1918/19), Chicago: Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft von Illinois, 1920, pp. 69-87, details Wolff's impact on the Declaration of Independence.
- Schneiders, Werner (ed.), Christian Wolff, 1697-1754. Interpretationen zu seiner Philosophie und deren Wirkung. Mit einer Bibliographie der Wolff-Literatur, 2nd edn., Hamburg: Meiner, 1986, is a good collection of recent philosophical work on Wolff.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
External links
- Matt Hettche introducing Christian Wolff in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- The Ontology of Christian Wolff: Existence as complement of possibility with an annotated bibliography
- WOLFF from Hegel’s Lectures on the History of Philosophy
Categories: 1679 births | 1754 deaths | People from Wrocław | Enlightenment philosophers | German philosophers | German-language philosophers | Silesian Germans | University of Leipzig faculty | University of Halle faculty | Barons of the Holy Roman Empire
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Wolff Christian also Christian Wolf Born 1679 AD Died 1754 AD at 75 years of age
