Jacob Freudenthal (20 June 1839 – 1 June 1907) was a German

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He was born at Bodenfelde,

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...

and died at Schreiberhau.

Life

Freudenthal was educated at the universities of Breslau and

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, and at the rabbinical seminary of Breslau. After graduating from 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 1863, he became a teacher of the in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

(1863–64). He then moved to Breslau to teach in the rabbinical seminary there, a position which he resigned in 1888. In 1875, Freudenthal became a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Breslau. In 1878, he became an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

and in 1888 a full professor of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He was a member of the senate of the university from 1894 to 1896, and dean of the philosophical faculty in 1898–99. The Prussian Academy of Science sent him to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1888 to study English philosophy, and in 1898 to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to research the life of

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

. The results of these trips were his "Beiträge zur Englischen Philosophie", published in the ''Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie'' (4-6, 1891), and ''Die Lebensgeschichte Spinoza's'' (

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 ...

, 1899).

Works

Freudenthal contributed various essays to publications of the Prussian Academy of Science, such as: * to the "Rheinische Museum", * to the "Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie", * to "Hermes", * to the "J. Q. R.", * to Monatsschrift Allg. Zeit. des Judenthums" His other works include: * ''Ueber den Begriff der ''Φαντασία'' bei Aristoteles'', 1863. * ''Die

Flavius Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing ''The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Judaea ...

beigelegte Schrift über die Herrschaft der Vernunft,'' 1869. * ''Alexander Polyhistor und die von ihm erhaltenen Reste judäischer und samaritanischer Geschichtswerke (Hellenistische Studien)'', 1875 / 1879. * ''Ueber die Theologie des Xenophanes'', 1886. * ''Spinoza. Sein Leben und seine Lehre.'' Erster Band: ''Das Leben Spinozas'', 1904; ''Spinoza. Leben und Lehre.'' Auf Grund des Nachlasses von J. Freudenthal bearbeitet von Carl Gebhardt. 2. edition, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1927 (Bibliotheca Spinozana curis societatis Spinozanae; T. 5). * ''Über den Text der Lucasschen Biographie Spinozas''. In ''Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik'' 126 (1905), 189–208.

References

19th-century German philosophers Jewish philosophers 19th-century German Jews 1839 births 1907 deaths 19th-century German male writers Spinoza scholars {{Germany-philosopher-stub