Christian Wolff (philosopher)

Christian Wolff (less correctly Wolf) (January 24, 1679 - April 9, 1754), German philosopher.

Importance

Christian Wolff is the most eminent German philosopher between Leibniz and Kant. His main achievement is a complete oeuvre on about any 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 published likewise in Latin, so that an international audience could, and did, read him. A founding father of, i.a., economics and public administration as academic disciplines, he concentrated especially in these fields on advice, on practical matters for government people, and on the professional nature of university education. Although a quintessentially Continental European thinker both in form and content, his work is said to have had a strong impact even on the American Declaration of Independence.

Related Topics:
Leibniz - Kant - Enlightenment - Rationality - Germany - Economics - Public administration - Government - Continental Europe

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