Jacob Friedrich von Abel (9 May 1751 – 7 July 1829) was a German

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

. His main interest was the human

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and in trying to find a proof for its

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...

. Born in

Vaihingen an der Enz Vaihingen an der Enz is a town located between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, in southern Germany, on the western periphery of the Stuttgart Region. Vaihingen is situated on the river Enz, and has a population of around 30,000. The former district-cap ...

, von Abel studied philology, philosophy and theology in the lower

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

in Denkendorf and

Maulbronn Maulbronn () is a city in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. History Founded in 1838, it emerged from a settlement, built around a monastery, which belonged to the Neckar Community in the Kingdom of Württemberg. In ...

and in the higher seminary in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

. He graduated in 1770 and was appointed professor of philosophy at the ''Militär-Pflanzschule'' at the

Solitude Palace Solitude Palace () is a Rococo ''schloss'' and hunting retreat commissioned by Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. It was designed by and Philippe de La Guêpière, and constructed from 1764 to 1769. It is located on an elongated ridge between ...

which moved later to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. While there, he was one of

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

's teachers and a good friend (becoming the dedicatee of his second play, '' Fiesco''). In 1790 he was appointed professor of philosophy and headmaster of the ''Contubernium'' in

; in 1792 he was a pedagogue of the Latin ''Schulen ob der Staig''. Notably during this period, he adopted renowned German idealist

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...

as his protege, according to Hegel's sister. It is also known that Abel's short book in defence of traditional rational metaphysics against Kant's arguments, was one of the first pieces of literature on

Kantianism Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, ...

to which Hegel was exposed. In 1811 Abel became

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

, general superintendent in Oehringen and member of the executive authority of the Evangelic Church in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

. In 1823 von Abel became general superintendent in

Bad Urach Bad Urach () is a town in the Reutlingen (district), district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 14 km east of Reutlingen, at the foot of the Swabian Jura, Swabian ''Alb'' (or Swabian Alps in English), and is known for ...

and

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...

, and lived in

. He died on a leisure excursion in

Schorndorf Schorndorf is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located approximately 26 km east of Stuttgart. Its train station is the terminus of the S2 line of the Stuttgart S-Bahn. The town is also sometimes referred to as ' (''The Daimler Town ...

. Jacob Friedrich von Abel was also a member of the Illuminatenorden, known as ''Pythagoras Abderites''.

Publications

* ''Einleitung in die Seelenlehre'' (1786) * ''Ausführliche Darstellung des Grundes unserez Glaubens an Unsterblichkeit'' (1826) * ''Sammlung und Erklärung merkwürdiger Erscheinungen aus dem menschlichen Leben'' (1784–1790, 3 volumes) The latter contains in its second volume a story on which Schiller's ''Verbrecher aus Infamie, eine wahre Geschichte'' is based.

Sources

* ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' &mdash
online version
1751 births 1829 deaths People from Vaihingen an der Enz People from the Duchy of Württemberg German Lutherans 18th-century German philosophers Members of the Württembergian Chamber of Deputies German male writers 19th-century German philosophers {{Germany-philosopher-stub