Christian Wolff: biography of this German philosopher

Wolff is one of the most important German philosophers in history. Let's see why.

Christian Wolff (1679-1754) was a German philosopher and mathematician of rationalistHe stood out in the historical context of the Enlightenment, a cultural and intellectual movement, especially active in Germany, France and England.

This movement was committed to knowledge and its diffusion as essential tools to create a better world in all senses.

In this article you will find a biography of Christian WolffWe will talk about his origins, his studies, trajectory... without forgetting his thought, his philosophy, his works and his great contributions to the field of knowledge.

Biography of Christian Wolff

Christian Wolff (1679-1754), full name Christian Freiherr von Wolff, was a German philosopher who was born in Breslau (Silesia, Poland), on January 24, 1679, and died in Halle on April 9, 1754, at the age of 75.

This intellectual belonging to the Enlightenment can be defined as an idealist, systematizer and popularizer of the philosophy of the philosopher Leibniz.In fact, much of his work was focused on disseminating and interpreting the philosophy of this thinker. He also worked as a professor and passed through different universities.

On the other hand, Wolff influenced, years later and in a notorious way, the rationalist ideas of the famous philosopher Immanuel Kant.

Christian Wolff's ideological current was rationalist, according to which knowledge can be attained by means of reason as an activity detached from the material reality that surrounds us, and his ideas were influenced, in turn, by the philosopher and mathematician René Descartes. On the other hand, his scientific method ended up being nourished, to a large extent, by mathematics.Wolff was not only a philosopher but also a mathematician.

Origin and studies

Christian Wolff was the son of a craftsman. He studied Lutheran theology (a branch of Christianity) and philosophy in the Polish city of Breslau, his hometown.his hometown. Later, in 1699, Wolff began to study another type of studies (physics and mathematics), this time in a German city: Jena.

Three years later, in 1702, he moved to Leipzig to obtain his doctorate, a year later, in philosophy. His doctoral thesis was Philosophia practica universalis mathematica methodo conscripta.

In addition, he obtained the chair of mathematics at the University of Halle, a few years later (in 1706), largely on the recommendation of his fellowa few years later (in 1706), largely thanks to the recommendations of his colleague Gottfried Leibniz, a German philosopher and mathematician. At that university he worked as a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy.

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Controversy: the clash of his ideas with religion.

Christian Wolff generated controversy with his thought; specifically, one of his works, Oratio de Sinarum philosophica practica (1721), which dealt with the philosophy of the Chinese, sparked controversy. As a result of this work, many of his colleagues, professors of theology, accused him of being an atheist, and for this reason he was dismissed from his post.He was dismissed two years later after the publication of the aforementioned work.

However, it is not true that he was an atheist, and Christian Wolff denied it with another of his works: Theologia Naturaliswhere he exposes the importance of God as a perfect and real being.

Intellectual trajectory

Life went on, and as a result of what happened, Christian Wolff was banished from Prussia. His works were also banned in 1723.. Fortunately, Wolff was taken in by the Landgrave Hesse-Kassel.

He began teaching at the University of Marburg, until 1740. That same year, Frederick II of Prussia (also called Frederick II the Great), the third king of Prussia, summoned him, and as a result he returned to Halle (German city). Four years later, at the University there, he was appointed chancellor, and two years later, he was awarded the title of baron. Christian Wolff remained in Halle until his death.

Work and thought

The work of Christian Wolff is very extensive, and he published up to 67 titles, organized in 23 volumes, only between 1703 and 1753. His works were written in both German and Latin.

On the other hand, in order for us to understand Wolff's thought and philosophy, his work focused on disseminating and interpreting Leibniz's philosophy. Leibniz and Descartes were the two most relevant figures that influenced the thinking of this philosopher.

Specifically, they inspired him to create his philosophical method, which was mathematically oriented.. On the other hand, Christian Wolff's thought was rationalist, which means that he considered reason as the main source of knowledge, although this does not mean that he was not a believer.

One of his most relevant works was Logic: Rational Thoughts on the Powers of the Human Understanding (1728), based on his ideas about society, which followed the current of enlightened despotism.

Beyond this book, these are some of his most relevant works:

• Philosophia practica universalis, mathematica methodo conscripta. (1703)
• Dissertationes pro loco (1703)
• Aërometriae elementa, in quibus aliquot aëris vires ac propietates iuxta methodum geometrarum demonstratur. (1708)
• Elementa matheseos universae, IV vols. (1713-1715)
• Lexicon mathematicum (1716)
• Cosmologia generalis (1731)
• Psychologia empirica (1732)
• Psychologia rationalis (1734)

Other contributions

In terms of his contributions, Wolff also developed a metaphysical teleologism (a branch of metaphysics that studies the purposes of objects or beings), through which he explained the universal connectedness and harmony of being as ends established by God..

Another of Christian Wolff's contributions was to systematize and revive scholasticism, a medieval philosophical and theological current, which uses part of classical philosophy to understand Christianity.

In addition, Wolff developed his own philosophical method, which was a deductive and rationalist method, through which he argued that all the truths of philosophy were reduced to the laws of formal logic..

Finally, we must not forget the great diffusion that Wolff made of sciences more "distant" from philosophy, such as: mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany....

Bibliographical references:

• Fazio, M (2002). Historia de la filosofía III: Filosofía moderna. Word.
• Gilson, É. Y Langan, T. (1967). Christian Wolff. Filosofía moderna. Buenos Aires-Barcelona. pp. 192-202 and 542-550.
• Komar, E. (1962). The virtue of prudence in the ethics of Christian Wolff. Sapientia. pp. 89-111.
• Wolff, Ch. (2000). Rational thoughts: On God, the world and the soul of man, as well as on all things in general (German Metaphysics). Edited by Agustín González Ruiz. Publisher: Akal.