Christian Garve | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1742-01-07)7 January 1742 |
| Died | 1 December 1798(1798-12-01) (aged 56) Breslau,Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | University of Frankfurt (Oder) University of Halle |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | 18th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Age of Enlightenment |
| Institutions | University of Leipzig |
| Main interests | Moral philosophy |
| Notable ideas | Popular philosophy |
Christian Garve (7 January 1742 – 1 December 1798) was one of the best-known philosophers of the lateEnlightenment along withImmanuel Kant andMoses Mendelssohn.
Christian Garve was born into a family of manual workers and died aged 56 in his parental home. He studied inFrankfurt an der Oder andHalle (Saale). In 1766 he gained his master's degree in philosophy. From 1770 until 1772 he wasextraordinary professor ofmathematics andlogic inLeipzig. From 1772 he was in Breslau, where he was active as a bookseller. The greatest part of his life was however spent staying with his mother in Breslau. In this city he also became a member of theMasonic Lodge "Friedrich zum goldenen Zepter" ("Frederick of the Golden Scepter").
Garve became well-known particularly for his intensive activity as a translator (producing versions of, e.g.,Cicero'sDe Officiis (1783) andAdam Smith'sWealth of Nations). His translation of Cicero's work was done at the request ofFrederick II, who bestowed upon him a pension of 200 thalers. Garve eulogized Frederick in theFragmente zur Schilderung des Geistes, Charakters and der Regierung Friedrichs II. (1798).
He composed psychological, moral and economic texts and reviews for theNeue Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften und der freyen Künste ("New Library of the Beautiful Sciences and Free Arts"). He was strongly marked by the influence of theEnglish andScottish Enlightenment as well asStoic ethics. He never formulated his essentially empirical philosophy in terms of a system, publishing his thought in the form of remarks and essays. As a result, he was reproached for being merely a shallowPopularphilosoph (popular philosopher), a reputation he has retained, and his writings did much toward the popularization of philosophy in Germany.
Of interest is his engagement with Immanuel Kant, which was initiated by a review of Kant'sCritique of Pure Reason in theGöttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen ("Göttingen Learned Advertiser") which had been shortened by the Göttingen philosopherJohann Georg Heinrich Feder. Kant felt himself to have been misunderstood, and complained bitterly about the review in the Appendix to his Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics that Will Henceforth Come Forward as a Science. When the original, longer review was published by Garve in theAllgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek ("General German Library"), it still attracted Kant's censure. Kant consequently wrote his ownAnti-Garve. This program in time expanded into Kant'sGroundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. The intellectual engagement between Kant and Garve extended up to Garve's death of cancer[1] in 1798.
