Johann Sturm | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 26 December 1703 | (aged 68)
Nationality | German |
Occupation | Philosopher |
Johann Christoph Sturm (3 November 1635 – 26 December 1703)[1] was a German philosopher, professor at University of Altdorf and founder of a short-lived scientific academy known as the Collegium Curiosum, based on the model of the Florentine Accademia del Cimento.[2] He edited two volumes of the academy's proceedings under the title Collegium Experimentale (1676 and 1685).[2] In 1670, he translated the works of Archimedes into German.[1]
Sturm is the author of Physica Electiva (1697), a book that criticized Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and prompted him to publish a rebuke. Sturm's critique was aimed at Leibniz's view that Nature and/or its constituent parts possess some creative force of their own. This criticism was partly theological, in that Sturm claimed Leibniz's view of Nature undermined the sovereignty of the Christian God.[3]