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Christian Thomasius (/toʊˈmeɪʃəs/; 1 January 1655 – 23 September 1728) was a German jurist and philosopher. TheGerman Enlightenment "supposedly" began with him.[1]
He was born inLeipzig and was educated by his father,Jakob Thomasius (1622–1684), at that time a junior lecturer inLeipzig University (later dean and rector, as well as head master ofThomasschule zu Leipzig). Through his father's lectures, Christian came under the influence of thepolitical philosophy ofHugo Grotius andSamuel Pufendorf, and continued the study of law at theUniversity of Frankfurt (Oder)[2] in 1675, completing his doctorate in 1679. In 1680, he married Anna Christine Heyland and started a legal practice in Leipzig; the following year he began teaching at the university’s law school as well. In 1684 he became professor of natural law, soon attracting attention by his abilities, and particularly by his attack on traditional prejudices, intheology andjurisprudence. In 1685 he published a provocative dissertation,De crimine bigamiae (The crime of bigamy), in which he argued thatbigamy is permissible undernatural law.
In 1687 he made the daring innovation of lecturing inGerman instead ofLatin and gave a lecture on the topic "How One Should Emulate the French Way of Life," referring to the French use of their native language not only in everyday life but in scholarship as well; according to scholar Klaus Luig, this event marks the real beginning of theGerman Enlightenment.[citation needed] In the following year he began publishing a monthly periodical (Scherzhafte und ernsthafte, vernüftige [sic]und einfältige Gedanken über allerhand lustige und nutzliche Bücher und Fragen) in which he ridiculed the pedantic weaknesses of the learned, taking the side of thePietists in their controversy with theorthodox, and defending mixed marriages ofLutherans andCalvinists;[2] he also published a volume on natural law which emphasized natural reason and a paper defending marriage between Lutherans and members of the Reformed church.
In consequence of these and other views, on 10 May 1690 he was denounced from the pulpits, forbidden to lecture or to write, and his arrest was ordered. He escaped by going to Berlin, and the electorFrederick III offered him a refuge inHalle, with a salary of 500thaler and permission to lecture. He helped found theUniversity of Halle (1694), where he became second and then first professor of law and (in 1710) rector of the university. He was one of the most esteemed university teachers and influential writers of his day,[2] and in 1709 he was appointed to the privy council.
Though not a profound philosophical thinker, Thomasius prepared the way for great reforms in philosophy, as well as in law, literature, social life and theology. It was his mission to introduce a rational, common-sense point of view, and to bring the divine and human sciences to bear on the everyday world. He thus created an epoch inGerman literature, philosophy and law, and, along withSpittler, began the modern period of ecclesiastical history. One of the aims of his life was to free politics and jurisprudence from the control of theology. He fought bravely and consistently for freedom of thought and speech on religious matters[2] and mediated between the academic and the public sphere. In this regard, he shared much in common with his discipleGabriel Wagner, who subsequently objected to Thomasius' religious metaphysical beliefs.[3] In law, he tried to prove that the rules ofRoman law, which contradicted his own principles ofnatural law, had never actually been accepted and were therefore invalid; he also tried to legitimize his own principles by showing them to be common law built on Germanic foundations. In this way he contributed to the creation of scholarship of private law separate from that of Roman law.
Thomasius is often spoken of in German works as the author of the "territorial system," orErastian theory of ecclesiastical government; but he taught that the state may interfere with legal or public duties only, and not with moral or private ones. He would not have evenatheists punished, though they should be expelled from the country, and he came forward as an earnest opponent of the prosecution ofwitches and of the use oftorture. In theology he was not a naturalist or adeist, but a believer in the necessity of revealed religion for salvation. He came strongly under the influence of thepietists, particularly ofSpener, and there was a mystic vein in his thought; but other elements of his nature were too powerful to allow him to attach himself wholly to that party.[2]
He died in Halle in 1728.
Thomasius's most popular and influential German publications were his periodical already referred to (1688–1689);Einleitung zur Vernunftlehre (1691, 5th ed. 1719);Vernünflige Gedanken über allerhand auserlesene und juristische Handel (1720–1721);Historie der Weisheit und Torheit (3 vols., 1693);Kurze Lehrsätze van dem Laster der Zauberei mit dem Hexenprozess (1704);Weitere Erläuterungen der neueren Wissenschaft anderer Gedanken kennen zu lernen (1711).[2] He expressed his pedagogical principles in two main Latin works,Institutiones iurisprudentiae divinae (Institutes of Divine Jurisprudence, 1688), based on a lecture onPufendorf’s natural law, andFundamenta juris naturae et gentium (Foundations of the Law of Nature and Nations, 1705).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Thomasius, Christian".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 868.| International | |
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