Isaak Iselin (7 March 1728 in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

– 15 July 1782 in Basel) was a Swiss philosopher of history and politics. Iselin studied law and philosophy at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

and the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. In 1756 he became secretary of the republic of Basel. He was a co-founder of the

Helvetic Society The Helvetische Gesellschaft / Société Helvétique, or Helvetic Society as it is known in English, was a patriotic society and the first Swiss reform society. It was founded by Swiss philosopher Isaak Iselin, poet Solomon Gessner and some 20 ot ...

, the first national Swiss reform society. Iselin's ''Geschichte der Menschheit'' ("History of Humanity") was the first fully-fledged history of humanity in German. The ''Geschichte der Menschheit'' was provoked by what Iselin conceived as

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principal so ...

's climatological determinism and

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...

's critique of progress and at the same time inspired by exponents of the

Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment (, ) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century, Scotland had a network of parish schools in the Sco ...

such as

Lord Kames Henry Home, Lord Kames (1696–27 December 1782) was a Scottish writer, philosopher and judge who played a major role in Scotland's Agricultural Revolution. A central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, he was a founding member of the ...

. Iselin's pen-friend

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

in his review of the first edition of 1764, lauded Iselin as one of the best German prose writers.

Works

*''Philosophische und Politische Versuche'', 1760 *''Ueber die Geschichte der Menschheit'', 1764 *''Versuch über die gesellige Ordnung'', 1772 *''Träume eines Menschenfreundes'', 1776

Recent edition of Iselin's works

* Gesammelte Schriften. Kommentierte Ausgabe. Schwabe Verlag, Basel 2014–2018. ** volume 1: ''Schriften zur Politik'', ed. by Florian Gelzer, 2014, . ** volume 2: ''Schriften zur Ökonomie'', ed. by Lina Weber, 2016, . ** volume 3: ''Schriften zur Pädagogik'', ed. by Marcel Naas, 2014, . ** volume 4: ''Geschichte der Menschheit'', ed. by Sundar Henny, 2018,
open access
.

References

* Béla Kapossy, ''Iselin contra Rousseau: Sociable Patriotism and the History of Mankind'' (Basel, Switzerland: Schwabe, 2006) (Schwabe Philosophica, 9). *

Andreas Urs Sommer Andreas Urs Sommer (born 14 July 1972) is a German philosopher of Swiss origin. He specializes in the history of philosophy and its theory, ethics, philosophy of religion, and Skepticism. His historical studies center on the philosophy of Age of ...

, ''Geschichte als Trost. Isaak Iselins Geschichtsphilosophie'' (Basel: Schwabe, 2002) (= Schwabe Horizonte) (). * Lucas Marco Gisi / Wolfgang Rother (ed.), ''Isaak Iselin und die Geschichtsphilosophie der europäischen Aufklärung'' (Basel: Schwabe, 2011).

External links

1728 births 1782 deaths Swiss philosophers Swiss political philosophers {{Switzerland-bio-stub

Works

Recent edition of Iselin's works

References

See also

External links