Gustav Teichmüller (November 19, 1832 – May 22, 1888) was a German
philosopher. His works, particularly his notion of perspectivism, influenced
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his c ...
's philosophy.
Biography
Teichmüller was born in
Braunschweig
Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...
in the
Duchy of Brunswick
The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital was the city of Brunswick ().
It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienn ...
. He was the son of August Teichmüller and Charlotte Georgine Elisabeth Teichmüller, née von Girsewaldt. His father was a lieutenant in the Prussian army. His mother also came from a soldier's family.
Teichmüller received a classical education at the local gymnasium, where he developed an interest in philosophy, especially aesthetic philosophy. Beginning in 1852, he studied philosophy in Berlin under Frederick Adolf Trendelenburg, a well-known specialist in ancient philosophy.
He also spent a semester studying in Tübingen under Jakob Friedrich Reiff and Friedrich Theodor Vischer, gaining greater knowledge in the areas of natural science and classical philology.
He taught as a
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
at the
Basel University (since 1868) and the
Imperial University of Dorpat (since 1871). He died in
Dorpat
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
(now
Tartu, Estonia
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast o ...
).
Career
After his father's death, Teichmüller was forced to find work due to financial difficulties. In August 1855, he was contracted as a tutor at the house of the Baron of Werther. Teichmüller, however, found the time to complete his doctorate in
Halle Halle may refer to:
Places Germany
* Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt
** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt
** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany
** Hall ...
, receiving his degree in 1856 with a dissertation entitled ''Aristotelische Einteilung der Verfassungsformen'' (“Aristotle’s Classification of Forms of Government”). When Werther was appointed German ambassador to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
, Teichmüller followed his employer to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
After two years in Saint Petersburg, Teichmüller left the service of Werther and, in 1858, took a job as a teacher of Greek and German at the Gymnasium Annenkirche (the school of St. Anne's Lutheran Church). In the same year he married his first wife Anna Cramer, the daughter of an
Estonian landowner. In 1860 he accepted a position as an adjunct lecturer (Privatdozent) in philosophy 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 i ...
, where he became part of an intellectual circle along with the philosopher
Rudolf Hermann Lotze and
Heinrich Ritter
Heinrich August Ritter (; 21 November 1791 – 3 February 1869) was a German philosopher and historian of philosophy.
He was born in Zerbst, and studied philosophy and theology at the University of Göttingen and Berlin until 1815. In 1824 he ...
, the historian of philosophy. One of his students was
Rudolf Christoph Eucken, who became an important protégé. Lotze also became a close family friend.
In 1861 his first daughter, composer
Anna Teichmüller, was born and followed by his second daughter, Lina a year later. Shortly thereafter his wife died at the age of 20. In 1863, unable to continue his teaching career, Teichmüller began a year-and-a-half-long journey that took him to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
the Maghreb,
the Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equ ...
, and
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
. Returning to Göttingen, he resumed his teaching career, and in 1867 was accorded the title Professor Extraordinary. He also married his sister-in-law, Lina Cramer, with whom he went on to have eight children.
His student E.A. Bobrov described Teichmüller as “a man who suffered a great deal of evil and injustice in his life while never having done wrong or harm to anyone. Empathetic, he spent sizable amounts money to help indigent students. He was a skilled and influential speaker and teacher, a kind and patient mentor.” Bobrov and
Wincenty Lutosławski were among his most successful students. Teichmüller remained professor of philosophy in
Dorpat
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
(now the
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...
n city of Tartu) until his death in 1888.
He taught as a professor at the Basel University (since 1868) and the
Imperial University of Dorpat (since 1871). He died in Dorpat, Russian Empire (now Tartu, Estonia).
Philosophy
Teichmüller is considered a philosopher of the idealist school and a founder of Russian
personalism
Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleierm ...
. His ideas were shaped by his teachers Lotze and
J. F. Herbart, who in turn were influenced by
G. W. von Leibniz. Some scholars describe Teichmüller's personalism as a version of neo-Leibnizianism. His doctrines have also been referred to as constituting a variant of Christian personalism that is in opposition to both
positivism
Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. ...
and
evolutionism
Evolutionism is a term used (often derogatorily) to denote the theory of evolution. Its exact meaning has changed over time as the study of evolution has progressed. In the 19th century, it was used to describe the belief that organisms deliberat ...
as well as traditional
Platonism
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at ...
. Teichmüller's philosophy has influenced Nietzsche and this link has been explored by scholars such as Hermann Nohl, who traced Teichmüller's ''Die wirkliche und die scheinbare Welt'', 1882, as the source of the latter's perspectivism.
Teichmüller also influenced the Russian thinkers A. A. Kozlov, I.F. Oze, and E. A. Bobrov.
His philosophical works can be divided into three. The first was concerned with the study of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...
, particularly those under the title ''Aristotelische Forschungen'' (Aristotelian Investigations), which were published in three volumes: ''Contributions to the Poetics of Aristotle'' (1867), ''Aristotle's Philosophy of Art'' (1869), and ''History of the Concept of Parousia'' (1873). One of his theories contained in these works was that the ''
Nicomachean Ethics'' was completed before Aristotle finished ''Laws''.
As indicated by the title of the third volume, the second classification was marked by an interest in the history of concepts. His main works of this period involved the ''Studien zur Geschichte der Begriffe'' (Studies in the History of Concepts, 1874) and ''Neue Studien zur Geschichte der Begriffe'' (New Studies in the History of Concepts, 3 volumes, 1876–1879).
In his third philosophical work, Teichmüller explored the divide between the real and the apparent world. Teichmüller considered it imperative to separate consciousness, which includes feeling and action, from specific theoretical knowledge, and regarded such notions as space, time, and movement only as outwardly projected forms that are alien to reality itself and that condense inner processes into intuitions. His views are articulated in ''Die wirkliche und die scheinbare Welt'' (The Real and Apparent Worlds, 1882) and ''Die Religionsphilosophie'' (Philosophy of Religion, 1886).
Bibliography
* ''Die aristotelische Eintheilung der Verwaltungsformen'' (St. Peterburg 1859)
* ''Studien zur Geschichte der Begriffe'', 1874
* ''Darwinismus und Philosophie'', 1877
References
*''
Meyers Großes Konversationslexikon'', 6th reprint (1909).
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teichmuller, Gustav
1832 births
1888 deaths
Writers from Braunschweig
People from the Duchy of Brunswick
Academic staff of the University of Basel
19th-century German philosophers
Academic staff of the University of Tartu
German male writers
Burials at Raadi cemetery