Christian Wolff (philosopher): Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|German philosopher (1679–1754)}}

[[image:Christian Wolff.jpg|thumb|right|Christian Wolff]]

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}

'''Christian Wolff''' (less correctly '''Wolf'''; also known as '''Wolfius''') ([[January 24]], [[1679]] - [[April 9]], [[1754]]) was a [[Germany|German]] [[philosopher]].

{{citations needed|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox philosopher

| region = [[Western philosophy]]

| era = [[18th-century philosophy]]

| image = File:Christian-Wolff Gemälde.jpg

| name = Christian Wolff

| school_tradition = [[Age of Enlightenment]]<br />[[Rationalism]]

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1679|01|24}}

| birth_place = [[Breslau]], [[Duchies of Silesia]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]<br />(present-day [[Wrocław]], [[Poland]])

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1754|04|09|1679|01|24}}

| death_place = [[Halle an der Saale]], [[Duchy of Magdeburg]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]

| education = [[University of Jena]] (1699–1702)<ref name=Theis>Robert Theis, Alexander Aichele (eds.), ''Handbuch Christian Wolff'', Springer-Verlag, 2017, p. 442.</ref><br />[[University of Leipzig]] ([[Dr. phil. habil.]], 1703)

| institutions = [[Leipzig University]]<br />[[University of Halle]]<br />[[University of Marburg]]

| main_interests = [[Philosophical logic]], [[metaphysics]]

| notable_ideas = [[Theoretical philosophy]] has for its parts [[ontology]] (also ''[[philosophia prima]]'' or [[general metaphysics]]) and three [[special metaphysics|special metaphysical disciplines]] (rational [[psychology]], rational [[Cosmology (philosophy)|cosmology]], [[rational theology]])<br />Coining the philosophical term "[[idealism]]"<ref>{{cite encyclopedia

| last1 = Guyer

| first1 = Paul

| last2 = Horstmann

| first2 = Rolf-Peter

| author-link = Martin Kramer

| editor-last = Zalta

| editor-first = Edward N.

| title = Idealism

| encyclopedia = [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]

| publisher = Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University

| ___location = Stanford, California

| date = 30 August 2015

| url =https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/idealism/ }}</ref>

| thesis_title = Philosophia practica universalis, methodo mathematica conscripta (On Universal Practical Philosophy, Composed from the Mathematical Method)

| thesis_url = https://books.google.com/books?id=P7kYAAAAIAAJ

| thesis_year = 1703

| academic_advisors = [[Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus]]<br>[[Gottfried Leibniz]] (epistolary correspondent)

| notable_students = [[Mikhail Lomonosov]]<br>[[A. G. Baumgarten]]

}}

'''Christian Wolff''' ({{IPAc-en|v|ɔː|l|f}}; less correctly '''Wolf''',<ref name=EB1911/> {{IPA|de|vɔlf|lang}}; also known as '''Wolfius'''; ennobled as '''Christian [[Freiherr]] von Wolff''' in 1745; 24 January 1679 – 9 April 1754) was a [[German philosophy|German philosopher]]. Wolff is characterized as one of the most eminent German philosophers between [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]] and [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]. His life work spanned almost every scholarly subject of his time, displayed and unfolded according to his demonstrative-[[deductive reasoning|deductive]], mathematical method, which some deem the peak of [[The Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] [[rationality]] in Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Corr|first=Charles A.|date=1975|title=Christian Wolff and Leibniz|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2708926|journal=Journal of the History of Ideas|volume=36|issue=2|pages=241–262|doi=10.2307/2708926|jstor=2708926|issn=0022-5037|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Importance==

Christian Wolff is the most eminent German philosopher between [[Leibniz]] and [[Kant]]. His main achievement is a complete oeuvre on almost every scholarly subject of his time, displayed and unfolded according to his demonstrative-deductive, mathematical method, which perhaps represents the peak of [[The Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] [[rationality]] in [[Germany]]. Wolff is also the creator of German as the language of scholarly instruction and research, although he also wrote in Latin, so that an international audience could, and did, read him. A founding father of, among other fields, [[economics]] and [[public administration]] as academic disciplines, he concentrated especially in these fields, giving advice on practical matters to people in [[government]], and stressing the professional nature of university education. Although a quintessentially [[Continental Europe]]an thinker both in form and content, his work is said to have had a strong impact on the American Declaration of Independence.

Wolff wrote in German as his primary language of scholarly instruction and research, although he did translate his works into [[Latin]] for his transnational European audience. A founding father of, among other fields, economics and [[public administration]] as academic disciplines,{{Citation needed|reason=These claims need to be justified by reliable sources. |date=May 2020}} he concentrated especially in these fields, giving advice on practical matters to people in government, and stressing the professional nature of university education.{{Citation needed|reason=These claims need to be justified by reliable sources. |date=May 2020}}

==Life==

[[File:Wolff-tablica.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Plaque on building in [[Wrocław]] (''Breslau'') where Wolff was born and lived, 1679–99]]

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 [[university of Halle|Halle]]. Before this time. he had made the acquaintance of [[Gottfried Leibniz|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.

Wolff was born in [[Breslau]], [[Habsburg Silesia|Silesia]] (now [[Wrocław]], Poland), into a modest family. He studied mathematics and physics at the [[University of Jena]], soon adding philosophy.

But the claims which Wolff advanced on behalf of the [[rationalism|philosophic reason]] appeared impious to his theological colleagues. Halle was the headquarters of [[Pietism]], which, after a long struggle against [[Lutheran]] [[dogma]]tism, 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.

In 1703, he qualified as ''[[Privatdozent]]'' at [[Leipzig University]],<ref>His [[habilitation]] thesis title was ''Philosophia practica universalis, methodo mathematica conscripta'' (''On Universal Practical Philosophy, Composed from the Mathematical Method'').</ref> where he lectured until 1706, when he was called as professor of mathematics and [[natural philosophy]] to the [[Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg|University of Halle]]. By this time he had made the acquaintance of [[Gottfried Leibniz]] (the two men engaged in an epistolary correspondence<ref>[http://www.leibniz-translations.com/wolff.htm Leibniz to Christian Wolff (selections) - Leibniz Translations].</ref>), of whose philosophy his own system is a modified version.

As a consequence, in 1723, Wolff was ousted from his first chair at [[Halle, Saxony-Anhalt|Halle]] in one of the most celebrated academic dramas of the 18th century. His enemies had gained the ear of the king [[Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia|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 of Marburg|university]] he had received a call even before this crisis, which was now renewed. The [[Landgraf|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.

At Halle, Wolff at first restricted himself to mathematics, but on the departure of a colleague, he added physics, and soon included all the main philosophical disciplines.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle = Wolff, Christian|volume=28|page=774|inline=1|first1=Andrew Seth|last1=Pringle-Pattison|author-link1=Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison|author2=Anonymous}}</ref>

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.

However, the claims Wolff advanced on behalf of [[rationalism|philosophical reason]] appeared impious to his theological colleagues. [[Halle (Saale)|Halle]] was the headquarters of [[Pietism]], which, after a long struggle against [[Lutheran]] [[dogma]]tism, had assumed the characteristics of a new orthodoxy. Wolff's professed ideal was to base theological truths on mathematically certain evidence. Strife with the Pietists broke out openly in 1721, when Wolff, on the occasion of stepping down as 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 reach moral truth by its own efforts.<ref name=EB1911/>

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, was the first school, in the philosophical sense, associated with a German philosopher. It dominated Germany until the rise of [[Immanuel Kant|Kantianism]].

[[File:Delftware plaque with chinoiserie, 17th c. (bk-1971-117).jpg|thumb|[[Delftware]] plaque with [[chinoiserie]], 17th century]]

==Philosophy==

On 12 July 1723, Wolff held a lecture for students and the magistrates at the end of his term as a rector.<ref name=wolfc>{{cite book|last=Wolff|first=C.|editor=Michael Albrecht|title=Oratio de Sinarum philosophia practica/Rede über die praktische Philosophie der Chinesen |series=Philosophische Bibliothek |publisher=Felix Meiner Verlag |___location=Hamburg, Germany |year=1985 |page=XXXIX|language=de}}</ref> Wolff compared, based on books by the [[Flemish people|Flemish]] missionaries [[François Noël (missionary)|François Noël]] (1651–1729) and [[Philippe Couplet]] (1623–1693), Moses, Christ, and Mohammed with Confucius.<ref name=jstor>{{cite journal|journal=[[Journal of the History of Ideas]] |year=1953 |volume=14 |number=4 |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |jstor=2707702 |title=The Sinophilism of Christian Wolf (1679–1754) |last=Lang|first=Donald F.|pages=561–574 |doi=10.2307/2707702 }}</ref>

The Wolffian philosophy held almost undisputed sway in Germany till it was displaced by the [[Immanuel Kant|Kantian]] revolution, due partly to his distinctive habit of writing in both Latin and German. Wolff's philosophy has, until a reevaluation set in the 1960s, often been held to be a common-sense adaptation or watering-down of the Leibnizian system; or, more charitably, Wolff was said to have methodized and "reduced" to dogmatic form the thoughts of his great predecessor.

According to [[Voltaire]], Prof. [[August Hermann Francke]] had been teaching in an empty classroom but Wolff attracted with his lectures around 1,000 students from all over.<ref name=rathaus>{{cite web|url=http://www.rathausseite.de/default.asp?id=l2&b=09|title=Auditorium Maximum der Universität Halle|publisher=Rathausseite|access-date=1 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130211184843/http://www.rathausseite.de/default.asp?id=l2&b=09|archive-date=11 February 2013|language=de}}</ref>

These are mainly his comprehensive view of philosophy, as embracing in its survey the whole field of human knowledge, his insistence everywhere on clear and methodic exposition, and his confidence in the power of reason to reduce all subjects to this form. The Wolffian system retains the determinism and optimism of Leibniz, but the [[monadology]] recedes into the background, the monads falling asunder into souls or conscious beings on the one hand and mere atoms on the other. The doctrine of the pre-established harmony also loses its metaphysical significance - while remaining an important [[heuristic]] device - and the [[principle of sufficient reason]] introduced by Leibniz is once more discarded in favor of the [[principle of contradiction]] which Wolff seeks to make the fundamental principle of philosophy.

In the follow-up, Wolff was accused by Francke of [[fatalism]] and atheism,<ref name=uhalley>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEZI_ULqp7EC |last=Uhalley |first=Stephen |author2=Xiaoxin Wu |title=China and Christianity. Burdened Past, Hopeful Future|publisher=University of San Francisco Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History |___location=San Francisco |year=2001 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vEZI_ULqp7EC&dq=%22Discourse+on+the+Practical+Philosophy+of+the+Chinese%22&pg=PA160 160] |isbn=0-76560661-5}}</ref> and ousted in 1723 from his first chair at [[Halle, Saxony-Anhalt|Halle]] in one of the most celebrated [[academy|academic]] [[drama]]s of the 18th century. His successors were [[Joachim Lange]], a pietist, and his son, who had gained the ear of the king [[Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia|Frederick William I]]. (They claimed to the king if Wolff's determinism were recognized, no soldier who deserted could be punished as he would have acted only as it was necessarily predetermined that he should, which so enraged the king that he immediately deprived Wolff of his office, and ordered Wolff to leave Prussian territory within 48 hours or be hanged.)<ref name=EB1911/>

Philosophy is defined by him as the science of the possible, and divided, according to the two faculties of the human individual, into a theoretical and a practical part. Logic, sometimes called philosophia rationales, forms the introduction or propaedeutic to both. Theoretical philosophy has for its parts [[ontology]] or ''philosophia prima'', [[cosmology]], rational psychology and natural theology; ontology treats of the existent in general, psychology of the soul as a simple non-extended substance, cosmology of the world as a whole, and [[rational theology]] of the existence and attributes of God. These are best known to philosophical students by Kant's treatment of them in the ''Critique of Pure Reason''. Practical philosophy is subdivided into ethics, economics and politics. Wolff's moral principle is the realization of human perfection - seen realistically as the kind of perfection the human person actually can achieve in the world in which we live. It is perhaps the combination of Enlightenment optimism and worldly realism that made Wolff so successful and popular as a teacher of future states- and businessmen.

The same day, Wolff passed into Saxony, and presently proceeded to [[Marburg]], [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel|Hesse-Kassel]], to whose university (the [[University of Marburg]]) 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.<ref name=EB1911/>

According to [[Jonathan I. Israel]], "the conflict became one of the most significant cultural confrontations of the 18th century and perhaps the most important of the Enlightenment in Central Europe and the Baltic countries before the French Revolution."<ref name=Israel>{{cite book|last=Israel|first=Jonathan I.|title=Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2002|chapter=29|isbn=0-19925456-7}}<!--|access-date=1 January 2012--></ref>

Prussian crown prince Frederick defended Wolff against [[Joachim Lange]] and ordered the Berlin minister Jean Deschamps, a former pupil of Wolff, to translate ''Vernünftige Gedanken von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen, auch allen Dingen überhaupt'' into French.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Sciences of the Soul. The Early Modern Origins of Psychology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SS0fcbm3xMC |first=Fernando |last=Vidal |date = December 2011|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4SS0fcbm3xMC&dq=%22Jean+Deschamps%22%22Christian+Wolff%22%22C.+Wolff%22%22des+Champs%22&pg=PA92 92]| publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn = 9780226855882}}</ref> Frederick proposed to send a copy of ''Logique ou réflexions sur les forces de l'entendement humain'' to [[Voltaire]] in his first letter to the philosopher from 8 August 1736. In 1737, Wolff's ''Metafysica'' was translated into French by Ulrich Friedrich von Suhm (1691–1740).<ref>{{cite book |title=Seize the Book, Jail the Author. Johann Lorenz Schmidt and Censorship in Eighteenth-century Germany |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ia8prLcwsAYC |author1=Spalding, Paul S. |author2=Schmidt, Johann Lorenz |year=1998 |publisher=[[Purdue University Press]] |___location=[[West Lafayette, Indiana]] |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ia8prLcwsAYC&dq=%22Ulrich+Friedrich+von+Suhm%22+Wolff&pg=PA128 128] |isbn=1-55753116-1}}</ref> Voltaire got the impression Frederick had translated the book himself.{{cn|date=October 2021}}

In 1738, Frederick William began the hard labour of trying to read Wolff.<ref>MacDonogh, G. (1999) ''Frederick the Great'', p. 129.</ref> In 1740, Frederick William died, and one of the first acts of his son and successor, [[Frederick the Great]], was to acquire him for the Prussian Academy.<ref>MacDonogh, G. (1999) ''Frederick the Great'', p. 134.</ref> Wolff refused,<ref>{{cite book |last=Fellmann |first=Emil A. |title=Leonhard Euler |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eREahbPlHNQC |year=2007 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eREahbPlHNQC&dq=%22Ulrich+Friedrich+von+Suhm%22+Wolff&pg=PA82 82] |isbn=978-3-76437539-3}}</ref> but accepted on 10 September 1740 an appointment in Halle. {{cn|date=October 2021}}

His entry into the town on 6 December 1740 took on the character 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]], possibly the first scholar to have been created hereditary Baron of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] on the basis of his academic work.{{cn|date=October 2021}}

When Wolff died on 9 April 1754, he was a very wealthy man, owing almost entirely to his income from lecture-fees, salaries, and royalties. He was also a member of many academies. His school, the Wolffians, was the first school in the philosophical sense to be associated with a German philosopher. It dominated Germany until the rise of [[Immanuel Kant|Kantianism]].{{cn|date=October 2021}}

Wolff was married and had several children.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wolff |first=Christian |title=Eigene Lebensbeschreibung |year=1841 |publisher=Leipzig |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TM8uAAAAYAAJ/page/n174/mode/1up}}</ref>

==Philosophical work<!--'General metaphysics' and 'Special metaphysics' redirect here-->==

Wolffian philosophy has a marked insistence everywhere on a clear and methodic exposition, holding confidence in the power of reason to reduce all subjects to this form. He was distinguished for writing copies in both Latin and German. Through his influence, [[natural law]] and philosophy were taught at most German universities, in particular those located in the Protestant principalities. Wolff personally expedited their introduction inside Hesse-Cassel.<ref>[[#ingrao|Ingrao, 1982]], p. 955</ref>

The Wolffian system retains the [[determinism]] and optimism of [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]], but the [[monadology]] recedes into the background, the monads falling asunder into souls or conscious beings on the one hand and mere atoms on the other. The doctrine of the pre-established harmony also loses its [[metaphysical]] significance (while remaining an important [[heuristic]] device), and the [[principle of sufficient reason]] is once more discarded in favor of the [[principle of contradiction]] which Wolff seeks to make the fundamental principle of philosophy.<ref name=EB1911/>

Wolff had philosophy divided into a theoretical and a practical part. Logic, sometimes called ''philosophia rationalis'', forms the introduction or [[propaedeutics]] to both.<ref name=EB1911/>

[[Theoretical philosophy]] had for its parts [[ontology]] or ''[[philosophia prima]]'' as a '''general metaphysics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Matt |last=Hettche |title=Christian Wolff. 8.1 Ontology (or Metaphysics Proper) |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wolff-christian/#OntMetPro |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|SEP]] |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref> which arises as a preliminary to the distinction of the [[Trichotomy (philosophy)|three]] '''special metaphysics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Matt |last=Hettche |title=Christian Wolff. 8. Theoretical Philosophy |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wolff-christian/#The |encyclopedia=SEP |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref> on the soul, world and God:<ref>{{cite web |first=George J. |last=Mattey |title=UC Davis Philosophy 175 (Mattey) Lecture Notes: Rational Psychology |url=http://hume.ucdavis.edu/mattey/phi175/paraloglec.html |publisher=[[University of California, Davis]], Department of Philosophy |date=2012 |access-date=11 March 2018 |archive-date=8 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208131132/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahume.ucdavis.edu%2Fmattey%2Fphi175%2Fparaloglec.html+%22three%3A+the+rational+soul%2C+the+totality+of+the+world%2C+and+God.+Corresponding+to+these%22%22objects+there+are+in%22%22Wolff+three+branches+of%22%22special+metaphysics%22%22rational+psychology%2C+rational+cosmology%2C+and+rational+theology%2C+respectively%22 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Peter |last=van Inwagen |author-link=Peter van Inwagen |title=1. The Word 'Metaphysics' and the Concept of Metaphysics |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/#WorMetConMet |encyclopedia=SEP |date=31 October 2014 |access-date=11 March 2018}}</ref> rational [[psychology]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Matt |last=Hettche |title=Christian Wolff. 8.3 Psychology (Empirical and Rational) |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wolff-christian/#PsyEmpRat |encyclopedia=SEP |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Brian |last=Duignan |title=Rational psychology |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/rational-psychology |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |date=20 April 2009 |access-date=12 March 2018}}</ref> rational [[Cosmology (philosophy)|cosmology]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Matt |last=Hettche |title=Christian Wolff. 8.2 Cosmology |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wolff-christian/#Cos |encyclopedia=SEP |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref> and [[rational theology]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Matt |last=Hettche |title=Christian Wolff. 8.4 Natural Theology |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wolff-christian/#NatThe |encyclopedia=SEP |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref> The three disciplines are called empirical and rational because they are independent of revelation. This scheme, which is the counterpart of religious tripartition in creature, creation, and Creator, is best known to philosophical students by Kant's treatment of it in the ''[[Critique of Pure Reason]]''.<ref name=EB1911/>

In the "Preface" of the 2nd edition of Kant's book, Wolff is defined as "the greatest of all dogmatic philosophers."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Matt |last=Hettche |title=Christian Wolff |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wolff-christian/ |encyclopedia=SEP |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref> Wolff was read by [[Søren Kierkegaard]]'s father, Michael Pedersen. Kierkegaard himself was influenced by both Wolff and Kant to the point of resuming the tripartite structure and philosophical content to formulate his own three ''[[Stages on Life's Way]]''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Sven Hroar |last=Klempe |title=Kierkegaard and the Rise of Modern Psychology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kTgrDwAAQBAJ |year=2017 | orig-date=2014 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |___location=[[Abingdon-on-Thames]] |isbn=978-1-35151022-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kTgrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74&dq=%22Michael+Pedersen%22%22especially+interested+in+Christian+Wolff%22%22with+his+father+so+often+explicitly+referring+to+Wolff,+it+is+no+surprise+that+there+was+an+effect+on+Søren.+Note%22%22Kierkegaard's+reference%22%22in+Stages%22 74]}}</ref>

Wolff saw ontology as a [[deductive]] science, knowable [[a priori]] and based on two fundamental principles: the [[principle of non-contradiction]] ("it cannot happen that the same thing is and is not") and the [[principle of sufficient reason]] ("nothing exists without a sufficient reason for why it exists rather than does not exist").<ref name="Craig">{{cite book |last1=Craig |first1=Edward |title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=1996 |publisher=Routledge |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/BEAREO |chapter=Wolff, Christian}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sandkühler |first1=Hans Jörg |title=Enzyklopädie Philosophie |date=2010 |publisher=Meiner |url=https://meiner.de/enzyklopadie-philosophie.html |chapter=Ontologie |access-date=16 December 2020 |archive-date=11 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311040207/https://meiner.de/enzyklopadie-philosophie.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Beings'' are defined by their ''determinations'' or ''predicates'', which can't involve a contradiction. Determinates come in 3 types: ''essentialia'', ''attributes'', and ''modes''.<ref name="Craig"/> ''Essentialia'' define the nature of a being and are therefore necessary properties of this being. ''Attributes'' are determinations that follow from essentialia and are equally necessary, in contrast to ''modes'', which are merely contingent. Wolff conceives ''existence'' as just one determination among others, which a being may lack.<ref name="Hettche">{{cite web |last1=Hettche |first1=Matt |last2=Dyck |first2=Corey |title=Christian Wolff |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wolff-christian/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=16 December 2020 |date=2019}}</ref> Ontology is interested in being at large, not just in actual being. But all beings, whether actually existing or not, have a sufficient reason.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Borchert |first1=Donald M. |title=Macmillan Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd Edition |date=2006 |publisher=Macmillan |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/MONMEO-3 |chapter=Ontology, History of}}</ref> The sufficient reason for things without actual existence consists in all the determinations that make up the essential nature of this thing. Wolff refers to this as a "reason of being" and contrasts it with a "reason of becoming", which explains why some things have actual existence.<ref name="Hettche"/>

Practical philosophy is subdivided into ethics, economics and politics. Wolff's moral principle is the realization of human perfection<ref name=EB1911/>{{mdash}}seen realistically as the kind of perfection the human person actually can achieve in the world in which we live. It is perhaps the combination of Enlightenment optimism and worldly realism that made Wolff so successful and popular as a teacher of future statesmen and business leaders.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Matt |last=Hettche |title=Christian Wolff. 9. Practical Philosophy |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wolff-christian/#Pra |encyclopedia=SEP |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref>

==Works==

[[File:Wolff, Christian – Elementa matheseos universae, 1746 – BEIC 12789623.jpg|thumb|''Elementa matheseos universae'', 1746]]

Wolff's most important works are as follows:

Wolff's most important works are as follows:<ref name=EB1911/>

*''Anfangsgründe aller mathematischen Wissenschaften'' (1710; in Latin, ''Elementa malheseos universae'', 1713-1715)

*''Dissertatio algebraica de algorithmo infinitesimali differentiali'' (''Dissertation on the Algebra of Solving Differential Equations Using Infinitesimals''; 1704)<ref>Latin original available online at [http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/dms/load/img/?PID=PPN599485728 Göttinger Digitalisierungszentrum].</ref>

*''Vernünftige Gedanken von den Kräften des menschlichen Verstandes'' (1712; Eng. trans. 1770)

*''Anfangsgründe aller mathematischen Wissenschaften'' (1710); in Latin, ''Elementa matheseos universae'' (1713–1715)

*''Vernünftige Gedanken von den Kräften des menschlichen Verstandes'' (1712).<ref>German original available online at [https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN671795139 Göttinger Digitalisierungszentrum].</ref> French translation by Jean Des Champs, ''Logique'', Berlin: 1736. English translation by anonymous, ''Logic'', London: 1770. Unfortunately, the English version is a translation of Des Champs's French edition instead of the original German of Wolff's ''Vernünftige Gedanken''.

*''Vern. Ged. von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen, auch allen Dingen überhaupt'' (1719)

*''Vern. Ged. von der Menschen Thun und Lassen'' (1720)

*''Vern. Ged. von dem gesellschaftlichen Leben der Menschen'' (1721)<ref>German original available online at [https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN638189926 Göttinger Digitalisierungszentrum].</ref>

*''Vern. Ged. von den Wirkungen der Natur'' (1723)

*''Vern. Ged. von den Absichten der natürlichen Dinge'' (1724)

*''Vern. Ged. von dem GebräucheGebrauche 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'' (1730). Part 1 translated as ''First Philosophy, or Ontology'', a translation with critical introduction and annotation by Klaus Ottmann, Thompson: Spring Publications (2022).

*''Philosophia prima, sive Ontologia'' (1729)

*''Cosmologia generalis'' (1731)

*''Psychologia empirica'' (1732)

*''Psychologia rationalis'' (1734)

*''Theologia naturalis'' (1736-17371736–1737)

*''Kleine philosophische Schriften'', collected and edited by G.F. Hagen (1736-17401736–1740).

*''Philosophia practica universalis'' (1738-17391738–1739)

*''Jus naturae and Jus Gentium''. (1740-1749)Magdeburg, 1740–1748.

** English trans.: Marcel Thomann, trans. ''Jus naturae''. NY: Olms, 1972.

*''Philosophia moralis'' (1750-1753).

* {{Cite book|author=Wolff, Christian|title=Elementa matheseos universae|volume=2|publisher=Dionigi Ramanzini|___location=Verona|year=1746|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12789623}}

Wolff's complete writings have been published since 1962 in an annotated reprint collection, and thus are easily accessible:

** {{Cite book|author=Wolff, Christian|title=Elementa matheseos universae|volume=3|publisher=Dionigi Ramanzini|___location=Verona|year=1746|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12790886}}

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

** {{Cite book|author=Wolff, Christian|title=Elementa matheseos universae|volume=4|publisher=Dionigi Ramanzini|___location=Verona|year=1751|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12792845}}

*''Jus Gentium Methodo Scientifica Pertractum'' (The Law of Nations According to the Scientific Method) (1749)

*''Philosophia moralis'' (1750–1753).

Wolff's complete writings have been published since 1962 in an annotated reprint collection:

*''Gesammelte Werke'', Jean École et al. (eds.), 3 series (German, Latin, and Materials), Hildesheim-[Zürich-]New York: Olms, 1962–.

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

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

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

==See also==

==Recent key works on Wolff==

* [[Mons Wolff]]

*''European Journal of Law and Economics'' 4(2) (Summer 1997), special issue on Christian Wolff, reprinted 1998 in the ''Gesammelte Werke'', 3rd Ser. Note especially the essays by Jürgen G. Backhaus ("Christian Wolff on Subsidiarity, the Division of Labor, and Social Welfare"), [[Wolfgang Drechsler]] ("Christian Wolff (1679-1754): A Biographical Essay"), [[Erik S. Reinert]] and Arno Mong Daastøl ("Exploring the Genesis of Economic Innovations: The religious Gestalt-Switch and the Duty to Invent as Preconditions for Economic Growth"), and Peter R. Senn ("Christian Wolff in the Pre-History of the Social Sciences").

* [[Wawrzyniec Mitzler de Kolof]]

*Goebel, Julius, "Christian Wolff and the Declaration of Independence", in ''Deutsch-Amerikanische Geschichtsblätter. Jahrbuch der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Gesellschaft von Illinois'' 18/19 (Jg. 1918/19), Chicago: Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft von Illinois, 1920, pp. 69-87, details Wolff's impact on the Declaration of Independence.

*Schneiders, Werner (ed.), ''Christian Wolff, 1697-1754. Interpretationen zu seiner Philosophie und deren Wirkung. Mit einer Bibliographie der Wolff-Literatur'', 2nd edn., Hamburg: Meiner, 1986, is a good collection of recent philosophical work on Wolff.

==Notes==

{{Reflist|group=note}}

==Further reading==

* Mueser, Benjamin (2024). "''[[doi:10.1177/00905917241277160|The Privilege of Territory: Christian Wolff at the Origins of Statist International Thought]]''". Political Theory.

==References==

*{{1911Reflist}}

==Sources==

* Blackwell, Richard J. "Christian Wolff's Doctrine of the Soul," ''Journal of the History of Ideas,'' 1961, 22: 339–354. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/2708129 in JSTOR]

* Corr, Charles A. "Christian Wolff and Leibniz," ''Journal of the History of Ideas,'' April 1975, Vol. 36 Issue 2, pp 241–262 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2708926 in JSTOR]

*Goebel, Julius, "Christian Wolff and the Declaration of Independence", in ''Deutsch-Amerikanische Geschichtsblätter. Jahrbuch der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Gesellschaft von Illinois'' 18/19 (Jg. 1918/19), Chicago: Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft von Illinois, 1920, pp.&nbsp;69–87, details Wolff's impact on the Declaration of Independence.

* {{cite journal |last=Ingrao |first=Charles |title="Barbarous Strangers": Hessian State and Society during the American Revolution |date=October 1982 |journal= The American Historical Review|volume=87 |issue=4 |jstor=1857901 |pages=954–976 |doi= 10.2307/1857901|ref=ingrao}}

* Jolley, Nicholas, ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz'' (Cambridge University Press, 1995), the standard source in English; includes biography and details of his work in many fields

* Richards, Robert J. "Christian Wolff's Prolegomena to Empirical and Rational Psychology: Translation and Commentary," ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' Vol. 124, No. 3 (30 June 1980), pp.&nbsp;227–239 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/986371 in JSTOR]

* Vanzo, Alberto. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150509173915/http://www.albertovanzo.net/papers/Wolff_experimental_philosophy-preprint.pdf Christian Wolff and Experimental Philosophy]", ''Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy'' 7.

*''[http://arno.daastol.com/artprof/wolff.html European Journal of Law and Economics]'' 4(2) (Summer 1997), special issue on Christian Wolff, reprinted 1998 in the ''Gesammelte Werke'', 3rd Ser. Note especially the essays by Jürgen G. Backhaus ("Christian Wolff on Subsidiarity, the Division of Labor, and Social Welfare"), [[Wolfgang Drechsler]] ("Christian Wolff (1679–1754): A Biographical Essay"), [[Erik S. Reinert]] and Arno Mong Daastøl ("Exploring the Genesis of Economic Innovations: The religious Gestalt-Switch and the Duty to Invent as Preconditions for Economic Growth"), and Peter R. Senn ("Christian Wolff in the Pre-History of the Social Sciences").

==External links==

{{Commons category|Christian Wolff}}

*{{Internet Archive author|sname=Christian Wolff |birth=1679 |death=1754}}

*[http://www.ontology.co/christian-wolff-ontology.htm Christian Wolff's Ontology: Existence as "Complement of Possibility"]

*[http://www.ontology.co/biblio/christian-wolff-biblio.htm Selected Bibliography on the Metaphysical Works of Christian Wolff]

*[http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/hp/hpwolff.htm Wolff] from Hegel's ''[[Lectures on the History of Philosophy]]''

* {{Librivox author |id=13735}}

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