Western Philosophy 18th-century philosophy
Name:	Christian Wolff
Birth:	January 24, 1679
Death:	April 9, 1754
School/tradition:	Enlightenment philosophy
Influences:	Leibniz
Influenced:	Kant

Christian Wolff (less correctly Wolf; also known as Wolfius) (January 24, 1679 - April 9, 1754) was a German philosopher. (Redirected from 18th century philosophy) 17th-century Western philosophy is conventionally seen as being dominated by the coming of symbolic mathematics and rationalism to philosophy, many of the most noted philosophers were also mathematicians. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (500x709, 138 KB) Christian Wolff, Professeur des Mathématique Engraving by Johann Georg Wille Česky | Deutsch | English | Ελληνικά | Español | فارسی | Français | עברית | Indonesian | Italiano | 日本語 | 한국어 | Magyar | Nederlands | Polski | Português | Românǎ | Русский | Slovenščina | Српски | Sunda | 简体中文 | 正體中文 | Türkçe | Русский | Українська +/- Source: http://www. ... is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 24 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament August 7 - The brigantine Le Griffon, which was commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the southern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes. ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Age of Enlightenment (French: ; German: ) was an eighteenth century movement in European and American philosophy, or the longer period including the Age of Reason. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... “Kant” redirects here. ... is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 24 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament August 7 - The brigantine Le Griffon, which was commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the southern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes. ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ...

Importance

Christian Wolff is the most eminent German philosopher between Leibniz and Kant. His main achievement is 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 rationality in Germany. Wolff is also the creator of German as the language of scholarly instruction and research, although he also wrote in Latin, so that an international audience could, and did, read him. A founding father of, among other fields, economics and public administration as academic disciplines, he concentrated especially in these fields, giving advice on practical matters to people in government, and stressing the professional nature of university education. His work is said to have had a strong impact on the American Declaration of Independence. Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (July 1, 1646 in Leipzig - November 14, 1716 in Hannover) was a German philosopher, scientist, mathematician, diplomat, librarian, and lawyer of Sorb descent. ... Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a Prussian philosopher, generally regarded as one of Europes most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. ... ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Public administration can be broadly described as the study and implementation of policy. ...

Life

Wolff was born in Breslau, Silesia. Coming from a modest background, he studied first mathematics and physics at the University of Jena, to which he soon added philosophy. In 1703 he qualified as Privatdozent in the University of Leipzig, where he lectured till 1706, when he was called as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy to Halle. Before this time he had made the acquaintance of Leibniz, of whose philosophy his own system is a modification. In Halle Wolff limited himself at first to mathematics, but on the departure of a colleague he added physics, and presently included all the main philosophical disciplines. Motto: Miasto spotkaÅ„ (the meeting place) Coordinates: , Country Poland Voivodeship Lower Silesian Powiat city county Gmina WrocÅ‚aw Established 10th century City Rights 1262 Government  - Mayor RafaÅ‚ Dutkiewicz Area  - City 292. ... Silesia (English pronunciation [], Czech: ; German: ; Latin: ; Polish: ; Silesian: Åšlůnsk) is a historical region in central Europe, located along the upper and middle Oder River, upper Vistula River, and along the Sudetes, Carpathian (Silesian Beskids) mountain range. ... Friedrich Schiller University of Jena (FSU) is located in Jena, Thuringia in Germany and was named for the German writer Friedrich Schiller. ... Privatdozent (PD or Priv. ... The University of Leipzig (German Universität Leipzig), located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony (former Kingdom of Saxony), Germany, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. ... The Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg is located in the German cities of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt and Wittenberg. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ...

But the claims which Wolff advanced on behalf of the philosophic reason appeared impious to his theological colleagues. Halle was the headquarters of Pietism, which, after a long struggle against Lutheran dogmatism, had itself assumed the characteristics of a new orthodoxy. Wolff's professed ideal was to base theological truths on evidence of mathematical certitude, and strife with the Pietists broke out openly in 1721, when Wolff, on the occasion of laying down the office of 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, pointing to them as an evidence of the power of human reason to attain by its own efforts to moral truth. In epistemology and in its broadest sense, rationalism is any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification (Lacey 286). ... Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late-17th century to the mid-18th century. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... For other senses of this word, see dogma (disambiguation). ... Confucius (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kung-fu-tzu), lit. ...

As a consequence, in 1723, Wolff was ousted from his first chair at Halle 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 represented to 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 at once 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 in Hesse-Kassel, to whose university he had received a call even before this crisis, which was now renewed. The Landgrave 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. Halle (also called Halle an der Saale (literally Halle on the Saale, and in some historic references is not uncommonly called Saale after the river) in order to distinguish it from Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia) is the largest town in the German State of Saxony-Anhalt. ... Frederick William I of Prussia (in German: Friedrich Wilhelm I), of the House of Hohenzollern (August 14, 1688 - May 31, 1740), often known as the Soldier-King, reigned as King of Prussia (1713 - 1740). ... Marburg is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the Lahn river. ... Hesse-Kassel (Hessen-Kassel in German) was a German principality that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1568 upon the death of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse. ... University of Marburg - Department of Social Sciences and University library The old university The University of Marburg (German: Philipps-Universität Marburg Philips University, Marburg), was founded in 1527 by Landgrave Philipp I of Hesse (usually called the Magnanimous, although the updated meaning haughty is sometimes given) as the... Graf is a German noble title equal in rank to a count or an earl. ...

At the University of Marburg, 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, an admirer of Wolff, was to recall him to Halle. His entry into the town on December 6, 1740 partook of the nature of a triumphal procession. In 1743, he became chancellor of the university, and in 1745 he received the title of Freiherr (Baron) from the Elector of Bavaria. 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 heydays in Marburg. University of Marburg - Department of Social Sciences and University library The old university The University of Marburg (German: Philipps-Universität Marburg Philips University, Marburg), was founded in 1527 by Landgrave Philipp I of Hesse (usually called the Magnanimous, although the updated meaning haughty is sometimes given) as the... Frederick the Great Frederick II of Prussia (Friedrich der Große, Frederick the Great, January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was the Hohenzollern king of Prussia 1740–86. ... December 6 is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 31 - Friedrich II comes to power in Prussia upon the death of his father, Friedrich Wilhelm I. October 20 - Maria Theresia of Austria inherits the Habsburg hereditary dominions (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and present-day Belgium). ... Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. ... For other uses, see Bavaria (disambiguation). ...

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 of the Holy Roman Empire 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. is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. ... The extent of the Holy Roman Empire around 1630, superimposed over modern European state borders Capital None Language(s) Latin, German, many others Religion Roman Catholicism Government Monarchy Emperor  - 962–967 Otto I  - 973–983 Otto II  - 996–1002 Otto III  - 1014– 1024 Henry II  - 1027–1039 Conrad II  - 1046... “Kant” redirects here. ...

Philosophy

The Wolffian philosophy held almost undisputed sway in Germany until it was displaced by the Kantian 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 system; or, more charitably, Wolff was said to have methodized and "reduced" to dogmatic form the thoughts of his great predecessor. “Kant” redirects here. ...

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, but the monadology 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 device - and the principle of sufficient reason introduced by Leibniz is once more discarded in favor of the principle of contradiction which Wolff seeks to make the fundamental principle of philosophy. The Monadology (Monadologie, 1714) is one of Gottfried Leibniz’s works that best define his philosophy, monadism. ... Look up Heuristic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The principle of sufficient reason states that anything that happens does so for a definite reason. ... The Principle of contradiction (principium contradictionis in Latin) is, in logic, the term applied to the second of the three primary laws of thought. ...

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 rationales, forms the introduction or propaedeutic to both. Theoretical philosophy has for its parts ontology or philosophia prima, cosmology, 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 businessmen. In philosophy, ontology (from the Greek , genitive : of being (part. ... Cosmology, from the Greek: κοσμολογία (cosmologia, κόσμος (cosmos) order + λογια (logia) discourse) is the study of the Universe in its totality, and by extension, humanitys place in it. ... Natural theology is the attempt to find evidence of a God or intelligent designer without recourse to any special or supposedly supernatural revelation. ...

Works

Wolff's most important works are as follows:

• Anfangsgründe aller mathematischen Wissenschaften (1710; in Latin, Elementa malheseos 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 Gebräuche der Theile in Menschen, Thieren und Pflanzen (1725); the last seven may briefly be described as treatises on logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, political philosophy, theoretical physics, teleology, physiology
• Philosophia rationalis, sive logica (1728)
• Philosophia prima, sive Ontologia (1729)
• 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: Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος logos; meaning word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle) is the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. ... Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ... Teleology (telos: end, purpose) is the philosophical study of design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in nature or human creations. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

• 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.

Recent key works on Wolff

• 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.

Wolfgang Drechsler (born June 6, 1963, Marburg, Germany) is a Public Administration, Political Philosophy and Innovation Policy scholar. ... Erik Steenfeldt Reinert (born 15 February 1949) is a Norwegian entrepreneur and heterodox economist. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.