Moritz Wilhelm Drobisch (16 August 1802 – 30 September 1896) was a German

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

logician Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

and

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 brother was the composer Karl Ludwig Drobisch (1803–1854).

Life

Drobisch studied mathematics and philosophy at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, where he subsequently became a professor. He wrote his ''habilitation'' in 1824. From 1826 to 1868 he served as ''ordinarius'' (full professor) in mathematics, and from 1842 on as ''ordinarius'' in philosophy. He was rector of the university of Leipzig in 1840–41 and served as dean of the philosophical faculty several times. Drobisch made contributions to philosophical and

mathematical logic Mathematical logic is the study of logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory. Research in mathematical logic commonly addresses the mathematical properties of for ...

set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly conce ...

quantitative linguistics Quantitative linguistics (QL) is a sub-discipline of general linguistics and, more specifically, of mathematical linguistics. Quantitative linguistics deals with language learning, language change, and application as well as structure of natural la ...

and

empirical psychology Empirical psychology (german: empirische Psychologie) is the work of a number of nineteenth century German-speaking pioneers of experimental psychology, including William James, Wilhelm Wundt and others. It also includes several philosophical theori ...

. Drobisch was strongly influenced by

Johann Friedrich Herbart Johann Friedrich Herbart (; 4 May 1776 – 14 August 1841) was a German philosopher, psychologist and founder of pedagogy as an academic discipline. Herbart is now remembered amongst the post-Kantian philosophers mostly as making the greatest c ...

. In 1834, Drobisch joined the Count Jablonowski Society of the Sciences in Leipzig. In 1846 he was a co-founder of the Saxony's Royal Society of the Sciences, whose successor organisation has named a medal in his honour. In 1868, Drobisch resigned from the mathematics department to devote himself to philosophy. He was made an honorary citizen of Leipzig in 1876. In his later years, Drobisch's blindness progressed, making scholarly work impossible from the mid-1880s on.

Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and ...

, a pioneer of German empirical psychology, held Drobisch's funeral oration and acknowledged his influence. Drobisch was one of the forerunners of the

neo-Kantian In late modern continental philosophy, neo-Kantianism (german: Neukantianismus) was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The Neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the "thin ...

revival of the 1860s.

Friedrich Albert Lange Friedrich Albert Lange (; 28 September 1828 – 21 November 1875) was a German philosopher and sociologist. Biography Lange was born in Wald, near Solingen, the son of the theologian, Johann Peter Lange. He was educated at Duisburg, Zürich an ...

criticized him and Herbart in his ''Foundations of Mathematical Psychology'' (1865).

Works

* 1834: ''Beiträge zur Orientierung über Herbart's System der Philosophie.'' 'Contributions to the Orientation in Herbart's System of Philosophy.''Significantly revised and expanded editions in 1851 and 1863. * 1836: ''Neue Darstellung der Logik nach ihren einfachsten Verhältnissen. Nebst einem logisch-mathematischen Anhange.'' 'New presentation of Logic in its Most Basic Relations. With a Logico–Mathematical Appendix.''* 1840: ''Quaestionum mathematico-psychologicarum.'' 'Mathematical–Psychological Question.''* 1842: ''Empirische Psychologie nach wissenschaftlicher Methode.'' 'Empirical Psychology According to the Scientific Method.'' * 1846: ''Über die mathematische Bestimmung der musikalischen Intervalle.'' 'On the Mathematical Determination of Musical Intervals.''* 1850: ''Erste Grundlegung der mathematischen Psychologie.'' 'First Foundation of Mathematical Psychology.''* 1867: ''Die moralische Statistik und die menschliche Willensfreiheit.'' 'Moral Statistics and Human Free Will.''* 1876: ''Über die Fortbildung der Philosophie durch Herbart.'' 'On Herbart's Continuation of Philosophy.''* 1885: ''Kant's Dinge an sich und sein Erfahrungsbegriff.'' 'Kant's Things in Themselves and his Concept of Experience.''

Sources

* Heinze, M., 'Drobisch, Moritz.' In: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie,'' Vol. 48. Leipzig 1904, pp. 80–82. * Best, K.H., 'Moritz Wilhelm Drobisch (1802–1896).' In: ''Glottometrics'' 17, 2008, pp. 109–114. (PD
ram-verlag.eu
* Neubert-Drobisch, W., ''Moritz Wilhelm Drobisch: ein Gelehrtenleben.'' Leipzig 1902. * ''Moritz Wilhelm Drobisch anlässlich seines 200. Geburtstages.'' Verlag der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Drobisch, Moritz Wilhelm 1802 births 1896 deaths 19th-century German mathematicians 19th-century German philosophers 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers Scientists from Leipzig Blind academics German logicians German psychologists Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University Rectors of Leipzig University Linguists from Germany