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Friedrich JacobiGerman philosopher
Date of Birth: 02.01.1743
Country:  Germany |
Content:
Biography of Friedrich Jacobi
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi was a German philosopher who was born on January 25, 1743, in Düsseldorf. He initially pursued an education in Geneva with the intention of pursuing a career in commerce, but he ultimately decided against becoming a merchant. With his brilliant mind and immense personal charm, Jacobi played a significant role in literary and philosophical circles. Alongside Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem, he founded the literary journal "Der Teutsche Merkur" (The German Mercury), which featured some of his earliest works.
Literary Works
Jacobi published the novel "Eduard Allwils Briefsammlung" (Eduard Allwils Collection of Letters) in 1775-1776, followed by "Woldemar: ein Seltenheit aus der Naturgeschichte" (Woldemar: A Rarity from Natural History) in 1777. Both works combined literature and philosophy. In 1779, he met Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, who introduced him to the philosophy of Spinoza. In his first philosophical work, "Über die Lehre des Spinoza, in Briefen an den Herrn Moses Mendelssohn" (On the Teachings of Spinoza, in Letters to Mr. Moses Mendelssohn) published in 1785, Jacobi criticized the dogmatic and "rationalistic" rationalism of Spinoza.
Jacobi was also dissatisfied with Immanuel Kant's system of absolute subjective idealism, which, in his view, was unable to grasp ultimate reality. In his work "David Hume über den Glauben, oder Idealismus und Realismus" (David Hume on Faith, or Idealism and Realism) published in 1787, he argued, following Hume, that truth is apprehended through intuitive feeling, and ultimate reality is the object of instinctive conviction or faith.
Philosophical Contributions
Jacobi's philosophy emphasized the importance of the intuitive and sensory, contrasting with the rational and subjective traditions of Kant and Spinoza. Reason is limited by its own immediate material, while the revelation of truth lies in experience, intuitive feeling, and faith, which are boundless. Among Jacobi's other important philosophical works are "Sendschreiben an Fichte" (Letter to Fichte, 1799), "Über das Unternehmen des Kriticismus, die Vernunft zu Verstande zu bringen" (On the Attempt to Bring Reason to Understanding, 1801), and "Von göttlichen Dingen" (On Divine Things, 1811).
Later Life and Death
From 1807 to 1812, Jacobi served as the president of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. He passed away on March 10, 1819, in Munich.
