WOLFF, CHRISTIAN (1679–1754)

WOLFF, CHRISTIAN (1679–1754), German philosopher. Born on 24 January 1679 in predominantly Catholic Breslau, Silesia (now Wrocław, Poland), the son of a Lutheran tanner who wanted him to become a minister, Wolff soon developed an interest in philosophy. After receiving a solid grounding in Scholasticism and Cartesianism under Jesuit supervision at the local Gymnasium (college preparatory school), Wolff began to study theology, mathematics, and philosophy at the University of Jena. He eventually earned his master's degree from the University of Leipzig in 1703, where his interest had shifted increasingly toward mathematics and philosophy, both of which he regarded as useful disciplines to solve religious disputes. His dissertation, De philosophia practica universali methodo mathematica conscripta (1702; Practical philosophy according to mathematical methods), drew the attention of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), whose letter of recommendation helped Wolff secure a professorship in mathematics at the University of Halle in 1706.

Although officially a professor of mathematics, Wolff lectured on experimental and theoretical physics, metaphysics, moral philosophy, and logic. At Halle, he published his most important works in philosophy including Vernünfftige Gedancken von den Kräfften des menschlichen Verstandes (1713; Rational thoughts on the powers of human understanding), Vernünfftige Gedancken von Gott, der Welt, und der Seele des Menschen, auch allen Dingen überhaupt (1720; Rational thoughts on God, the world, and the human soul, and all things in general), and Vernünfftige Gedancken von der Menschen Thun und Lassen, zu Beförderung ihrer Glückseeligkeit, den Liebhabern der Wahrheit mitgetheilet (1720; Rational thoughts on human conduct for the purpose of their happiness, told to those who love the truth), all of which were written in German. Ever since, Wolff has been regarded as the founder of a German philosophical language. His fame, however, did not save him from attacks by leading Pietist members of the theological faculty at Halle, such as Joachim Lange (1670–1744), who viewed Wolff as an advocate of a deterministic universe and as a potential danger to Christian dogma. The conflict escalated on the occasion of Wolff's public lecture, "De Sinarum philosophia practica" (1721; On the practical philosophy of the Chinese), which emphasized that revelation was not essential for arriving at sound moral principles. His opponents successfully appealed to King Frederick William I of Prussia (ruled 1713–1740), who issued an official warrant on 8 November 1723, demanding his departure from Halle within forty-eight hours under the threat of death by hanging. Wolff subsequently accepted a position as professor of philosophy at the University of Marburg until 1740, when the new King Frederick II of Prussia (ruled 1740–1786) invited him to return to Halle. At the time of his death on 9 April 1754, Wolff held the position of chancellor of the University of Halle and was privy councillor of Prussia, vice president of the Academy of St. Petersburg, and baron of the Holy Roman Empire.

Wolff's philosophical system builds on mathematical principles. He regarded the "mathematical method" as a guarantor for clarity because it connected premises and deductions into a chain of closely intertwined demonstrations. Although his philosophy was labeled as "Leibniz-Wolffian" as early as 1724—probably by one of his students, Georg Bernhard Bilfinger (1693–1750)—Wolff himself rejected this adjective without denying Leibniz's profound influence on him. He surpassed his famous predecessor by developing a more comprehensive system of philosophy, thereby linking all the individual disciplines with each other. He viewed philosophy as the science of all possible things. By possible Wolff meant anything that does not contain a logical contradiction, which is a lack of sufficient reason. In contrast to theology, which concerns itself with the supernatural, philosophy represents world wisdom. This marked a shift away from his predecessor Leibniz, who had always tried to prevent philosophy and theology from going their separate ways. Because, according to Wolff, attributes of the visible world proved God's existence, one branch of theology, the theologia naturalis ('natural theology') can, in accordance with the laws of reason, engage in determining God's qualities. Although he asserted that Christianity is based on the only true revelation, he nonetheless claimed that, at least in theory, certain standards must apply as well in order to distinguish it from false revelation. By making this suggestion, Wolff laid the foundation for a critical (rational) examination of revealed religion.

Christian Wolff was certainly the most important German philosopher between Leibniz and Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). In his Kritik der reinen Vernunft (1781; Critique of pure reason), Kant praised him as the "founder of the spirit of thoroughness in Germany." Wolff was the first modern thinker to write extensively in German. The rigor and clarity of his methodology helped emancipate philosophy from theology as an independent discipline. Wolffian principles, such as his emphasis on sufficient reason, encouraged radical biblical critics such as Johann Lorenz Schmidt (1702–1749) and Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694–1768) to examine and reject Christian revelation by subjecting Scripture to its rational principles. Nonetheless, one should not forget that Wolff's incorporation of Scholastic elements in his system and his conservative metaphysics made his philosophy equally appealing to Protestants and Catholics alike, both of whom viewed it as a useful defense against atheism and deism.

Wolff's influence reached even beyond the German territories. The concept of philosophy, as it appears in Diderot's and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie, can almost be called a precise copy of his definition of philosophy from his Discursus praeliminaris de philosophia in genere (1728; Preliminary discourse on philosophy in general).

Secondary Sources

Blackwell, Richard. "The Structure of Wolffian Philosophy." Modern Schoolman 38 (1961): 203–218.

Carboncini, Sonia. Transzendentale Wahrheit und Traum: Christian Wolffs Antwort auf die Herausforderung durch den cartesianischen Zweifel. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, 1991.

École, Jean. "Wolff était-il un Aufklärer?" In Aufklärung als praktische Philosophie, edited by Frank Gunert, et al., pp. 31–44. Tübingen, 1998.

Frängsmyr, Tore. "Christian Wolff's Mathematical Method and Its Impact on the Eighteenth Century." Journal of the History of Ideas 36 (1975): 653–668.

Morrison, J. C. "Christian Wolff's Criticism of Spinoza." Journal of the History of Philosophy 31 (1993): 182–213.

Saine, Thomas P. The Problem of Being Modern, or, the German Pursuit of Enlightenment from Leibniz to the French Revolution. Detroit, Mich., 1997.

Schneiders, Werner, ed. Christian Wolff, 1679–1754: Interpretationen zu seiner Philosophie und deren Wirkung. Hamburg, 1983.

Wundt, Max. Die Deutsche Schulphilosophie im Zeitalter der Aufklärung. Tübingen, 1945. Reprint, Hildesheim, 1964.

WOLFF, CHRISTIAN (1679–1754)

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Primary Sources

Secondary Sources