Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Friedrich Philipp Immanuel Niethammer (6 March 1766 – 1 April 1848), later Ritter von Niethammer, was a German
theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
,
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
educational reformer.


Biography

He received instruction at the
Maulbronn monastery Maulbronn Monastery (german: Kloster Maulbronn) is a former Cistercian abbey and ecclesiastical state in the Holy Roman Empire located at Maulbronn, Baden-Württemberg. The monastery complex, one of the best-preserved in Europe, was named a UNESCO ...
, and in 1784 became a student at Tübinger Stift, where he met
Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Part ...
(1770–1843),
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
(1770–1831) and
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him be ...
(1775–1854). In 1790 he moved to
Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...
, where he studied
Kantian philosophy Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, ...
under Karl Leonhard Reinhold (1757–1823). Subsequently, he became an associate professor of philosophy at the
University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...
, where he remained until 1804. In 1806, he was Protestant ''Oberschulkommissar'' (upper school administrator) of
Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...
, and the next year, he became Central Commissioner of Education and a member of the
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
General Consistory of
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. In 1797, with
Johann Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kan ...
(1762–1814), Niethammer was co-editor of the ''Philosophische Journal''. In 1798, the journal published
Friedrich Karl Forberg Friedrich Karl Forberg (30 August 1770, Meuselwitz – 1 January 1848, Hildburghausen) was a German philosopher and classical scholar. Biography Born in 1770 in Thuringia, Forberg studied under Karl Leonhard Reinhold at Jena. In 1791 he travel ...
's ''Entwicklung des Begriffs der Religion'' ("Development of the Concept of Religion"), an essay that Fichte prefaced with ''Über den Grund unsers Glaubens an eine göttliche Weltregierung'' ("Grounds of Our Belief in a Divine Government of the Universe"). Reaction to the article included accusations of
atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
, sparking the so-called 1798–99 ''Atheismusstreit'' (
atheism dispute The atheism dispute (german: Atheismusstreit) was an event in German cultural history that lasted between 1798 and 1800 and had an effect on the German philosophy in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries. History In 1798, Johann Gottlieb ...
), an event that eventually led to Fichte's 1799 departure from Jena. In 1808, Niethammer published ''Der Streit des Philanthropinismus und des Humanismus in der Theorie des Erziehungs-Unterrichts unsrer Zeit'' ("The Dispute between Philanthropinism and Humanism in the Educational Theory of our Time"), a book that was a reaction to
philanthropinism Philanthropinism (also philanthropism) comes from the Greek φίλος (friend) and άνθρωπος (human). It was an educational reform movement in the Age of Enlightenment in the German-speaking area, established in the second half of the eigh ...
, an educational concept that was developed during the
Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
. Philanthropinism valued practical and physical education and largely rejected rote-learning of the classics. Niethammer agreed with the philanthropinists in that a measure of autonomy was important in education, but he found their teaching philosophy too extreme. He believed that a sense of civics and civility were vital in a child's education, and made efforts to combine the best of philanthropinism with the best of "
humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
", a word that he derived from
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
's "
humanitas ''Humanitas'' is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below. Classical origins of term The Latin word ''humanitas'' corresponded to the Greek concepts of '' philanthr ...
".


Selected works

* ''Ueber den Versuch einer Kritik aller Offenbarung; eine philosophische Abhandlung'', 1792. * ''Über Religion als Wissenschaft zur Bestimmung des Inhalts der Religionen und der Behandlungsart ihrer Urkunden'', 1795 * ''Der Herausgeber des Philosophischen Journals gerichtliche Verantwortungsschriften : gegen die Anklage des Atheismus'', (1799, Fichte's reply to the charge of atheism). * ''Der Streit des Philanthropinismus und Humanismus in der Theorie des Erziehungs-Unterrichts unsrer Zeit'', 1808.


References

* "Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the
German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...
".


External links


The Humanist Magazine, 200 years of Humanism

Essay on Atheismusstreit
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Niethammer, Friedrich Immanuel 1766 births 1848 deaths 19th-century educational theorists German educational theorists German Lutherans German male non-fiction writers German philosophers German theologians Lutheran philosophers People from the Duchy of Württemberg University of Jena faculty