Johann Jakob Brucker (; ; 22 January 1696 – 26 November 1770) was a German
historian of philosophy
The history of philosophy is the systematic study of the development of Philosophy, philosophical thought. It focuses on philosophy as rational inquiry based on argumentation, but some theorists also include myth, Religion, religious traditions ...
.
Life
He was born at
Augsburg
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
. He was destined for the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
Church, and graduated at the
University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...
in 1718. He returned to Augsburg in 1720, but became parish minister of
Kaufbeuren
Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent city, independent town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria. The town is an enclave within the Districts of Germany, district of Ostallgäu.
...
in 1723.
In 1731 he was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences at Berlin, and was invited to return again to Augsburg as pastor and senior minister of the Church of St. Ulrich.
He died at Augsburg.
Works
His chief work, ''Historia Critica Philosophiae'' ("Critical History of Philosophy"), appeared at
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
(originally 5 volumes, 1742–1744). Its success was such that a new edition was published in six volumes (1766–1767; English translation by
William Enfield, 1791). It is primarily by this work alone that Brucker is now known, and was the modern era's first complete history of the different philosophical schools. It embodies an ample collection of materials, and contains valuable biographies.
Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work '' The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the manife ...
in his advice to read the original writings of philosophers, praised Brucker. He wrote that "Their real study demands all of a long and studious life, such as the stout-hearted Brucker formerly devoted to them in the industrious times of old (''
Parerga and Paralipomena'', Volume 1, "Fragments for the History of Philosophy," § 1)."
He also wrote ''Tentamen Introductionis in Historiam Doctrinae de Ideis'', afterwards completed and republished under the title of ''Historia Philosophicae Doctrinae de Ideis'' (Augsburg, 1723); ''Otium Vindelicum'' (1731); ''Kurze Fragen aus der philosophischen Historiae'' (7 volumes, Ulm, 1731–1736), a
history of philosophy
The history of philosophy is the systematic study of the development of philosophical thought. It focuses on philosophy as rational inquiry based on argumentation, but some theorists also include myth, religious traditions, and proverbial lor ...
in question and answer, containing many details, especially in the department of
literary history, which he omitted in his chief work; ''Pinacotheca Scriptorum nostra aetate literis illustrium'', etc. (Augsburg, 1741–1755); ''Ehrentempel der deutschen Gelehrsamkeit'' (Augsburg, 1747–1749); ''Institutiones Historiae Philosophicae'' (Leipzig, 1747 and 1756; 3rd edition with a continuation by F. G. B. Born (1743–1807) of Leipzig, in 1790); ''Miscellanea Historiae Philosophicae Literariae Criticae olim sparsim edita'' (Augsburg, 1748); ''Erste Anfangsgründe der philosophischen Geschichte'' (Ulm, 1751). He superintended an edition of
Martin Luther
Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
's translation of the
Old and
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, with a commentary extracted from the writings of the English theologians (Leipzig, 1758–1770, completed by V. A. Teller).
See also
*
Allegorical interpretations of Plato
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brucker, Johann Jakob
1696 births
1770 deaths
German Lutherans
German historians of philosophy
Writers from Augsburg
German male non-fiction writers
18th-century German historians