Johann Georg Hamann

Johann Georg Hamann
Born(1730-08-27)27 August 1730
Königsberg, Kingdom of Prussia
Died21 June 1788(1788-06-21) (aged 57)
Münster, Prince-Bishopric of Münster, Holy Roman Empire
Alma materUniversity of Königsberg
(1746–1751/52; no degree)
Era18th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolPost-Kantian
Counter-Enlightenment
Sturm und Drang
Main interests
Notable ideas
"Reason is language" ("Vernunft ist Sprache")[1]
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Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox philosopher with unknown parameter "influenced"

Johann Georg Hamann (/ˈhɑːmɑːn/; German: [ˈhaːman]; 27 August 1730 – 21 June 1788) was a German Lutheran philosopher from Königsberg known as "the Wizard of the North" who was one of the leading figures of post-Kantian philosophy. His work was used by his student J. G. Herder as the main support of the Sturm und Drang movement, and is associated with the Counter-Enlightenment and Romanticism.[5][6]

He introduced Kant, also from Königsberg, to the works of both Hume – waking him from his "dogmatic slumber" – and Rousseau. Hamann was influenced by Hume, but he used his views to argue for rather than against Christianity.[7]

Goethe and Kierkegaard were among those who considered him to be the finest mind of his time.[8] He was also a key influence on Hegel and Jacobi.[9] Long before the linguistic turn, Hamann believed epistemology should be replaced by the philosophy of language.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brief was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ O'Flaherty 1979, p. 19.
  3. ^ Garrett Green, Theology, Hermeneutics, and Imagination: The Crisis of Interpretation at the End of Modernity, Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 53.
  4. ^ "Hamann's Influence on Wittgenstein". Nordic Wittgenstein Review. 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  5. ^ Isaiah Berlin, Three Critics of the Enlightenment: Vico, Hamann, Herder, London and Princeton, 2000.
  6. ^ Berlin, Isaiah (1993). The Magus of the North: J. G. Hamann and the Origins of Modern Irrationalism. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-19657-8.
  7. ^ Griffith-Dickson, Gwen (2017), "Johann Georg Hamann", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2017 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2020-01-22
  8. ^ Betz, John (January 2009). "Reading "Sibylline Leaves": J. G. Hamann in the History of Ideas". Journal of the History of Ideas. 70 (1): 94–95. doi:10.1353/jhi.0.0025. JSTOR 40208092.
  9. ^ "Johann Georg Hamann | German philosopher". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-01-22.