Biography
Esser was born on February 21, 1798, inWorks
Logic
Kantian thought served as the basis of some of Esser's works on logic. In ''System der Logik'', where he argued that logic is not a branch of psychology and that a formulation of logic requires a single psychological fact, he recognized Kant's role in reshaping logical theory. Like Krug, who was also a post-Kantian logician, Esser held that there should be four fundamental laws of logic. These are: # All that is identical to an object must be attributed to it. # To every object must be denied all that is opposed 'Gegentheil''to it. # To every fully determinate object every possible mark either belongs or does not. # If one of two opposing marks should be affirmed or denied of an object, then there must be a sufficient ground on account of which this is attributed or denied it. Esser's conceptualization of the above laws was distinguished from those by Wilhelm Traugott Krug on account of the differences in their formulation. Esser's notions were mainly concerned with the marks that belong to or don't belong to an object. Esser's work on logic influenced the theories of thinkers such as Sir William Hamilton, who extensively drew from Esser's notion of the sense or quality of "necessary" in his definition of logic. As interpreted by Hamilton, Esser's view held that the necessity of a form of thought is contradistinguished from ''contingency'' due to its subjective nature so that a necessary form of thought is determined or necessitated by the nature of thinking itself.Universal law
Esser described the laws of thought as "certain fundamental convictions which mind, absolutely identical to itself, grasping itself in its reality and causality, builds initially on itself and then, subsequently, also transfers to any other reality." According to him, if a form of thought is necessary and universal, then it is a law. He then defined a universal law as that which applies to "all cases without exception, and from which a deviation is ever, and everywhere, impossible, or at least, unallowed."Publications
* ''System of logic'', Elberfeld 1823. * ''Moral philosophy'', Coppenrath, Münster 1827. * ''Memorandum to Georg Hermes'', DüMont-Schauberg, Cologne 1832. * ''Franz von Fürstenberg’s life and work'', Deiters, Münster 1842. * ''Psychology'', 2 volumes, Cazin, Münster, 1854.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esser, Wilhelm 1798 births 1854 deaths German philosophers 19th-century philosophers German logicians Philosophers of mind German male writers