Christian Wolff (philosopher)

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

Works by Wolff

Wolff's most important works are as follows:

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• Anfangsgründe aller mathematischen Wissenschaften (1710; in Latin, Elementa malheseos universae, 1713-1715)
• Vernünftige Gedanken von den Kraften des menschlichen Verstandes (1712; Eng. trans. 1770)
• Vern. Ged. von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen (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 naturlichen Dinge (1724)
• Vern. Ged. van 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 are being published, since over 40 years, in an annotated reprint collection, and thus easily accessible:

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• Gesammelte Werke, Jean École et al. (eds.), 3 series (German, Latin, and Materials), Hildesheim-New York: Olms, 1962-.

This includes a volume that unites the three most important older biographies of Wolff.

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An excellent modern edition of the famous Halle speech on Chinese philosophy is

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• Oratio de Sinarum philosophia practica / Rede über die praktische Philosophie der Chinesen, Michael Albrecht (ed.), Hamburg: Meiner, 1985.