Christian August Crusius (10 January 1715 – 18 October 1775) was a German philosopher and

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

theologian 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 ...

Biography

Crusius was born in

Leuna Leuna is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, south of Merseburg and Halle, on the river Saale. The town is known for the ''Leunawerke'', at 13 km2 one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes in Germany, where a very wide range of ...

in the Electorate of Saxony. He was educated 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 ...

, and became professor of theology there in 1750, and principal in 1773. Crusius first came to notice as an opponent of the philosophy of

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathem ...

and Christian Wolff from the standpoint of religious orthodoxy. He attacked it mainly on the grounds of the moral evils that must flow from any system of determinism, and attempted to vindicate the freedom of the will. The most important works of this period of his life are ''Anweisung, vernünftig zu leben'' uide to Rational Living(1744), ''Entwurf der nothwendigen Vernunftwahrheiten wiefern sie den zufälligen entgegengesetzt werden'' Necessary_Truths_of_Reason,_in_so_far_as_they_are_Opposed_to_Contingent_Truths.html" ;"title="Principle of sufficient reason">Necessary Truths of Reason, in so far as they are Opposed to Contingent Truths">Principle of sufficient reason">Necessary Truths of Reason, in so far as they are Opposed to Contingent Truths(1745), ''Weg zur Gewissheit und Zuverlässigkeit der menschlichen Erkenntniss'' ath to Certainty and Reliability in Human Knowledge(1747), and ''Anleitung, über natürliche Begebenheiten ordentlich und vorsichtig nachzudenken'' nstruction on How to Reflect Correctly and Cautiously on Natural Events(1749). Crusius' philosophical books had a great but short-lived popularity. His criticism of Wolff influenced

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

at the time when his system was forming; and his ethical, as well as epistemological, doctrines are cited in his

habilitation thesis Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

and the ''

Critique of Practical Reason The ''Critique of Practical Reason'' (german: Kritik der praktischen Vernunft) is the second of Immanuel Kant's three critiques, published in 1788. It follows on from Kant's first critique, the '' Critique of Pure Reason'' and deals with his mo ...

''. Kant "was deeply influenced by Crusius"I. Kant, ''Theoretical Philosophy: 1755–1770'', Cambridge University Press, p. 496 and owned ''Anweisung'', ''Entwurf'', and ''Anleitung''. Crusius's later life was devoted to theology. He led the party in the university which became known as the "Crusianer" as opposed to the "Ernestianer," the followers of JA Ernesti. The two professors adopted opposite methods of exegesis. Ernesti wished to subject the Scripture in the same way as other ancient books; Crusius held firmly to orthodox ecclesiastical tradition. He died in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Philosophical work

Crusius's chief theological works are ''Hypomnemata ad theologiam propheticam'' (1764–78), and ''Kurzer Entwurf den Moraltheologie'' (''Short Outline of Moral Theology''; 1772–73); his most important philosophical work is ''Entwurf der notwendingen Venunftwahrheiten'' reprinted Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1963. He opposed innovation in such matters as the accepted authorship of canonical writings, verbal inspiration, and the treatment of persons and events in the Old Testament as types of the

New New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. His views have influenced later evangelical students of the Old Testament, such as EW Hengstenberg and

Franz Delitzsch Franz Delitzsch (23 February 1813, in Leipzig – 4 March 1890, in Leipzig) was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Delitzsch wrote many commentaries on books of the Bible, Jewish antiquities, Biblical psychology, as well as a history of ...

. There is a full notice of Crusius in Ersch and Gruber's ''Allgemeine Encyclopädie''. See also JE Erdmann's ''History of Philosophy''; Anton Marquardt, ''Kant und Crusius''; and article in Herzog-Hauck, ''Realencyklopädie'' (1898).

Notes

References

* Crusius, Christian August.''Die philosophische Hauptwerke'', edited by Giorgio Tonelli, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1964 (four volumes). * Tonelli, Giorgio. "Crusius, Christian August" in Paul Edwards, ''The Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', New York: Macmillan, 1967, vol. 2, pp. 268–271.

External links

The Birth of Ontology. A selection of Ontologists from 1560 to 1770

''Entwurf der nothwendigen Vernunftwahrheiten'' 3rd edition (1766)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crusius, Christian August 1715 births 1775 deaths People from Leuna People from the Electorate of Saxony 18th-century German Protestant theologians German philosophers Leipzig University alumni Leipzig University faculty German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German male writers