Heinrich August Ritter (; 21 November 1791 – 3 February 1869) was a German philosopher and historian of philosophy. He was born in

Zerbst Zerbst () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until an administrative reform in 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the former Anhalt-Zerbst district. Geography Zerbst is situated in the Anhalt-Wittenberg regi ...

, and studied philosophy and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

until 1815. In 1824 he became an associate professor of philosophy at Berlin, later transferring to

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

, where he occupied the chair of philosophy from 1833 to 1837. He then accepted a similar position at the University of Göttingen, where he remained till his death. Friedrich Schleiermacher was a major influence in his thinking.ADB:Ritter, Heinrich
In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, S. 673 f.

Works

Ritter's chief work was a history of philosophy (''Geschichte der Philosophie'') published in twelve volumes at

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

from 1829 to 1853. This work was the product of a wide and thorough knowledge of the subject aided by an impartial critical faculty, and its value was underscored by its translation into almost all the languages of Europe. He wrote also accounts of ancient schools of philosophy, such as the

Ionians The Ionians (; el, Ἴωνες, ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the four major tribes that the Greeks considered themselves to be divided into during the ancient period; the other three being the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaea ...

, the

Pythagoreans Pythagoreanism originated in the 6th century BC, based on and around the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras established the first Pythagorean community in the ancient Greek colony of Kroton, ...

and the Megarians. Beside these important historical works, he published a large number of treatises of which the following may be mentioned: * ''Abriss der philosophischen Logik'' (1824). * ''Geschichte der Philosophie'' (1829–1853; 2nd edition, vols. i–iv, 1836–1838) — its 1st section, "Geschichte der philosophie alter zeit", was translated into English by Alexander J.W. Morrison and published as
''The history of ancient philosophy''
(1838–46). * ''Ueber das Verhältnis der Philosophie zum Leben'' (1835). * ''Historia philosophiae Graeco-Romanae'' (in collaboration with

Ludwig Preller Ludwig Preller (15 September 1809 – 21 June 1861) was a German philologist and antiquarian. Biography Born in Hamburg, he studied at Leipzig, Berlin and Göttingen, in 1838 he was appointed to the professorship of philology at the University ...

, 1838; 7th edition, 1888). * ''Kleine philosophische Schriften'' (1839–1840). * ''Versuch zur Verständigung über die neueste deutsche Philosophie seit Kant'' (1853). * ''System der Logik und Metaphysik'' (1856). * ''Die christliche Philosophie bis auf die neuesten Zeiten'' (2 volumes, 1858–1859). * ''Encyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften'' (1862–1864). * ''Ernest Renan, über die Naturwissenschaften und die Geschichte'' (1865). * ''Ueber das Böse und seine Folgen'' (1869).

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, Heinrich 1791 births 1869 deaths People from Zerbst German philosophers University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Academic staff of the University of Kiel German male writers