Ludwig Büchner
Ludwig Büchner | |
---|---|
German materialism[1] | |
Institutions | University of Tübingen |
Thesis | Beiträge zur Hall'schen Lehre von einem excitomotorischen Nervensystem (Contributions to the Hallerian Theory of an Excitomotor Nervous System) (1848) |
Main interests | Philosophy of science |
Notable ideas | Nature is purely physical |
Friedrich Karl Christian Ludwig Büchner (29 March 1824 – 30 April 1899) was a German
Biography
Büchner was born at Darmstadt on 29 March 1824. From 1842 to 1848 he studied physics, chemistry, botany, mineralogy, philosophy and medicine at the University of Giessen, where he graduated in 1848 with a dissertation entitled Beiträge zur Hall'schen Lehre von einem excitomotorischen Nervensystem (Contributions to the Hallerian Theory of an Excitomotor Nervous System). Afterwards, he continued his studies at the University of Strasbourg, the University of Würzburg (where he studied pathology with the great Rudolf Virchow) and the University of Vienna. In 1852 he became lecturer in medicine at the University of Tübingen, where he published his magnum opus Kraft und Stoff: Empirisch-naturphilosophische Studien (Force and Matter: Empiricophilosophical Studies, 1855).[2] Büchner was one of the founding members of the Freies Deutsches Hochstift (Free German Foundation).[3]
According to
He continued his philosophical work in defense of materialism, and published Natur und Geist (Nature and Spirit, 1857), Aus Natur und Wissenschaft (From Nature and Science, vol. I., 1862; vol. II., 1884), Der Fortschritt in Natur und Geschichte im Lichte der Darwinschen Theorie (Progress in Nature and History in the Light of the
Ludwig Büchner's materialism was the founding ground for the freethinkers' movement in Germany. In 1881 he founded in Frankfurt the "German Freethinkers League" ("Deutsche Freidenkerbund"). Being politically active, Büchner was a member of the second chamber of the Landstände of the Grand Duchy of Hesse as a representative of the German Free-minded Party from 1884 to 1890.[6]
He died at Darmstadt on 30 April 1899.[7]
Philosophical work
In estimating Büchner's philosophy it must be remembered that he was primarily a
Büchner is not always clear in his theory of the relation between matter and force. At one time he refuses to explain it, but generally he assumes that all natural and spiritual forces are indwelling in matter. Just as a
Büchner was much less concerned to establish a scientific metaphysics than to protest against the romantic idealism of his predecessors and the theological interpretations of the universe. Nature according to him is purely physical; it has no purpose, no will, no laws imposed by extraneous authority, no supernatural ethical sanction.[5]
Büchner endorsed
Büchner, together with Edward Aveling, had attended the congress of the "International Federation of Freethinkers" held in London from 25 to 27 September 1881, the following day they visited Darwin on 28 September. Aveling published a full account of his visit in the National Reformer in 1882.[9]
Modern Christian apologists consider Büchner the father of atheistic evangelism in Germany, a counterpart to
Family
Ludwig Büchner was born in the family of Ernst Karl Büchner, a senior medical councilor and court doctor in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Ludwig was the younger brother of Georg Büchner, a famous revolutionary playwright, and Luise Büchner, a women's rights advocate; and the uncle of Ernst Büchner, inventor of the Büchner flask.[10]
Notes
- ^ Owen Chadwick, The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, Cambridge University Press, 1990, p. 165: "During the 1850s German ... scientists conducted a controversy known ... as the materialistic controversy. It was specially associated with the names of Vogt, Moleschott and Büchner" and p. 173: "Frenchmen were surprised to see Büchner and Vogt. ... [T]he French were surprised at German materialism".
- ^ Available online at archive.org.
- ^ Lerner, Franz (1960). "Die ersten Mitglieder des Freien Deutschen Hochstifts". Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst. 47: 63–74.
- ^ Daum. Wissenschaftspopularisierung. pp. 173–75, 210–14, 296–98, 456–58, 478–79.
- ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911.
- ^ "Hessische Parlamentarismusgeschichte – Zugang zu Quellen & Materialien". Hessische Parlamentarismusgeschichte (in German). Retrieved 2023-12-12.
- ^ This death announcement, in The Zoologist, 4th series, vol. 3 (1899), issue 696, p. 280, gives 30 April as the date of death.
- ^ Social Darwinism in European and American Thought, 1860-1945 Nature as Model and Nature as Threat, Mike Hawkins, Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp.75-77
- ^ "A Visit to Charles Darwin" The National Reformer, Vol. XL.—No.18. NS., October 22, 1882,pp.[273]-274.
- ISSN 0044-3441.
References
- ISBN 3-486-56337-8.
- Fredrick Gregory: Scientific Materialism in Nineteenth Century Germany, Springer, Berlin u.a. 1977, ISBN 90-277-0760-X
Attribution
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Büchner, Friedrich Karl Christian Ludwig". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 719. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the