Society of Truth-Lovers

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medal of the Alethophiles (1740 based on a design by Johann Georg Wachters ) ː Front with portrait of Minerva with the image of the philosophers Leibnitz and Wolff on the helmet. The legend SAPERE AVDE quotes Horace 's first epistle book

The Society of Truth-Lovers , also Societas Alethophilorum , was a philosophical scholarly society of the 18th century, which was initially founded in Prussia and later moved to Saxony .

The aim of the society was the knowledge of the truth as the result of one's own conviction from sincere search and its defense. Correspondingly, Sections 1 and 2 of the social table of law read : Let the truth be the only purpose, the only reproach of your intellect and will. Do not hold true or false unless you have a sufficient reason to believe it. The primary task was to help Christian Wolff's philosophy gain a higher presence in contemporary theological-philosophical discussion.

history

Berlin phase

The Society of Lovers of Truth , as it was also called, was founded in Berlin in 1736 by Ernst Christoph Graf Manteuffel , an intrepid advocate of Wolff's philosophy, together with Johann Gustav Reinbeck , a long-time friend and supporter of Wolff. Manteuffel, once a diplomat and minister in the service of the Electorate of Saxony , worked intensively as a patron of culture and science from 1730 after his active service . The company was founded in response to the defamation of the philosopher by the so-called Halle Pietists and the expulsion of Wolff from Prussia on the instructions of Friedrich Wilhelm I. Against circles such as the theology professor Joachim Lange in Halle, the attempts to rehabilitate Wolff at the Berlin court tried to undermine, the alethophiles defended themselves and at the same time tried to have an "educational" effect on Crown Prince Friedrich .

The foundation was commemorated with the minting of its own medal, which was awarded in gold and silver as a public award for services to Wolff's philosophy.

Since it was founded, the society has met regularly in the Berlin house of the publisher Ambrosius Haude ; he had set up a room called the Sanctuaire especially for this purpose . In 1740 the company's headquarters were relocated to Leipzig, Saxony, after its founder Manteuffel had been expelled from Prussia.

Development from 1740

With the relocation to Leipzig, the company was initially reduced to a smaller "round table" that met regularly in the founder's house, a city palace on Roßplatz , in the Zum Kurprinz inn . At that time, its members were mainly recruited from within the philosophy faculty of the University of Leipzig . In addition to Leipzig, the company had branches in Weißenfels (since 1741) and Stettin (since 1742). With the move, the company's activities also changed. While in the Berlin phase they were of great political and journalistic importance, in Leipzig they mainly concentrated on social and entertaining activities in the typical Rococo pattern .

The members of the Société des Aléthophiles were active in Berlin until 1743. In the same year the dissolution took place through the death of Johann Gustav Reinbeck († 1741), liaison man between Leipzig and Berlin, as well as disputes between the individual members, mainly Jean Deschamps and the preacher Formey . The attitude towards Voltaire's philosophy and his turning away from Wolff, which was gradually strengthened since 1740 by Friedrich II , did the rest.

A prerequisite for acceptance into society as a Philalethes or "alethophile" was both personal acquaintance with Manteuffel and the unconditional recognition of Wolffianism .

In addition to the recognized chief Manteuffel, Rheinbeck was the decisive initiator of the Society of Lovers of Truth and its vice-president since 1734 . The society was promoted by some outside sympathizers and supporters (seekers of truth), including a group of young people interested in Berlin. The active members (alethophiles) or the so-called closer circle of society, however, only included the noble and bourgeois members listed below.

With the emphatic dissemination of Wolff's philosophy within the Prussian royal family, its officials and theologians, the society achieved significant success in the recognition and manifestation of Wolffianism within Prussia. Manteuffel's relationship with the Prussian royal house, which was ultimately able to convince Friedrich Wilhelm of Wolff's rehabilitation, was helpful .

With the death of Manteuffel in 1749, the company was completely dissolved.

Members

Foreign envoys

literature

  • Johann Christian Kundmann : Academiae et Scholae Germaniae Praecipue ducatus Silesiae cum bibliothecis in nummis. Or: the high and low schools of Germany, especially the duchy of Silesia, with their stocks of books in Müntzen ... along with Kupffern. 1741, p. 769 ff.
  • Frauke Böttcher: The mathematical and natural philosophical learning and working of the Marquise du Châtelet (1706–1749): A woman's access to knowledge in the 18th century. Berlin / Heidelberg 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-32486-4 , pp. 288-294.
  • Uta Motschmann (Ed.): Handbook of Berlin Associations and Societies 1786–1815. De Gruyter, 2015, ISBN 978-3-05-006015-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johannes Bronisch : The patron of the Enlightenment. Ernst Christoph von Manteuffel and the Network of Wolffianism (Early Modern Age 147), Berlin / New York 2010, p. 161 ff.
  2. ↑ Dr. Ph. Georg von Reinbeck: Life and work of Dr. Th. Johann Gustav Reinbeck . 1st edition. Beck & Fränkel, Stuttgart 1842, p. 64-65 .
  3. ↑ Non-profit lexicon for readers of all classes, especially for those who have not studied: or short and clear explanation of the idioms, expressions and artificial words most commonly used in oral conversations and in written essays, in alphabetical order ...: Both, Johann Ferdinand Roth.