Christian Wolff (philosopher)

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

Life

Christian 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.

Related Topics:
Breslau - Silesia - University of Jena - Privatdozent - University of Leipzig - Halle - Leibniz

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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.

Related Topics:
Philosophic reason - Pietism - Lutheran - Dogma - Confucius

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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.

Related Topics:
Halle - Frederick William I - Marburg - Hesse-Kassel - University - Landgrave

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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.

Related Topics:
University of Marburg - Frederick the Great - December 6 - 1740 - Baron - Bavaria

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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, the first school in our sense a German philosopher had at all dominated Germany until the rise of Kantianism.

Related Topics:
9 April - 1754 - Baron - Holy Roman Empire - Kantianism

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