Johann David Michaelis

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Johann David Michaelis

Johann David Michaelis (born February 27, 1717 in Halle , † August 22, 1791 in Göttingen ) was a German theologian and orientalist during the Enlightenment . He is one of the forerunners of empirical social research .

Life

Johann David Michaelis - son of the theologian and orientalist Christian Benedikt Michaelis - was taught by private teachers and from 1729 attended the school of the Francke Foundations , which had a pietistic orientation. His mother was Dorothea Hedwig Michaelis (1692-1736).

From 1733 Michaelis studied at the University of Halle , where he first attended medicine , mathematical and historical lectures, and then devoted himself to oriental languages ​​and theology. In addition to his father, Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten was also one of his teachers.

1739 he was with a work beyond the age of Hebrew vowel doctorate and lectured. He then traveled to England via the Netherlands in 1741 to study . When he returned to Halle, he taught again at the university. In 1745 he was offered a position as a private lecturer at the University of Göttingen , and in the following year he became an associate professor and, in 1750, a full professor of oriental studies. For the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen , when it was founded in 1751, he drafted the basic laws with Albrecht von Haller and headed its business for some time, first as secretary, then as director.

Above all, his Mosaic Law , based on Montesquieu (see below), and his empirical interest in the rationality of the laws for pastoral peoples ascribed to Moses are among the early testimonies of religious sociological thought in Germany.

Arabia trip

In 1753 the Enlightenment theologian took the initiative for the project to verify the truthfulness of the biblical narratives as part of a research trip to the Middle East (see also Arab trip ). For this purpose, he invited scientists from all over Europe to submit relevant questions and designed a questionnaire . The Enlightenment became a forerunner of empirical social research through his own questionnaire, influenced by Montesquieu's The Spirit of Laws and strongly sociological of religion , as he deduced from Arabic customs (similar to Mongolian regulations) the practical adequacy of detailed Mosaic laws. It is controversial whether Carsten Niebuhr's results corresponded to Michaelis' intentions. The project of the Arabia trip got off to a slow start. It was not until 1761 that a research group equipped by the Danish King Frederick V set out on the trip to investigate the approximately 100 questions submitted. Among the participants was Peter Forsskål . The only survivor to return from this trip in 1767 was the cartographer Niebuhr, whose description of Arabia published in 1774 answered many of the questions asked by Michaelis. Michaelis himself had not taken part in the trip.

Michaelis House

London tavern (right), 18th century view
Göttingen memorial plaque at the Michaelishaus at Prinzenstrasse 21

In 1764 Michaelis bought the inn known as " Londonschänke ", directly opposite the university and college building of the University of Göttingen. Here he lived with his family and also gave his lectures. A side wing was rented to students. The building was renamed Michaelishaus in the 20th century and served the university as an institute building until 2006, most recently mainly for oriental subjects.

family

Johann David Michaelis was married twice. The two marriages had ten children. His son Christian Friedrich Michaelis (1754-1818) later became professor of medicine in Marburg . The daughter Caroline Schlegel-Schelling was a writer and married first to Johann Franz Wilhelm Böhmer , second to August Wilhelm Schlegel and finally to Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling .

The grandson of his great-uncle Johann Heinrich Michaelis , Wilhelm von Michaelis (1742-1819), the cavalry captain in the Wolky Hussar Regiment, who was ennobled in 1787 , was known to Johann David Michaelis.

Awards

The Royal Society and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres appointed Michaelis a member, the emperor a council, and even foreign princes showered him with honors. In 1775 he became a Knight of the North Star Order .

In 1761 he was appointed Hofrat.

Works (selection)

Letter from Michaelis to Georg Christoph Lichtenberg with a scientific inquiry about the Old Testament
  • Curae in versionem Syriacam actuum apostolicorum , Göttingen 1755
  • Answering the question of the influence of opinions on language and language on opinions; which received the price set by the Royal Academy of Sciences for 1759 , Berlin 1760
    • French edition: De l'influence des opinions sur le langage et du langage sur les opinions , Bremen 1762
    • Reprint Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann Holzboog 1974.
  • Hebrew grammar. In addition to an appendix of thorough knowledge of the same , 2nd edition, Halle 1768
  • Reasoning about the Protestant universities in Germany , Frankfurt a. Leipzig 1768–1776
    • Reprint of the Frankfurt u. Leipzig 1768–1776: Aalen, Scientia Verl. 19XX.
  • Arabic grammar: abbreviated, more complete and made easier , Göttingen 1771
  • Introduction to the divine writings of the New Covenant (4th edition, 2 vols., Göttingen 1788)
  • Oriental and exegetical library (23 vols., Göttingen 1781–1785)
  • Mosaic law . 2nd edition, Reutlingen: Grözinger, 1793 - an early and significant testimony to the influence of Montesquieu's L'esprit de lois from 1748.
  • Carl Friedrich Stäudlin (Ed.): Johann David Michaelis Moral. Edited and with the history of Christian moral doctrine accompanied by Carl Fridrich Stäudlin , Göttingen 1792–1793.
  • Johann Matthaeus Hassencamp (ed.): Johann David Michaelis, former professor of philosophy in Göttingen, Königl. Great Britain. and Churbraunschweig-Lüneburg secret councilor of justice, knight of the king. Swedish Order of the North Star etc. etc. Description of life / written by himself. With a note from Hassencamp. Along with remarks on its literary character by Eichhorn, Schulz, and Heyne's Elogium . Rinteln; Leipzig: Expedition of the Theol. Annals u. a., 1793
    • Microfiche edition, Freiburg i. Br .: University Library 1999

Known students

literature

Web links

Commons : Johann David Michaelis  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Wolfgang Griep: Orient and Occident. Through happy Arabia . Die ZEIT December 20, 2006
  2. ↑ JD Michaelis, biography, written by himself , 1793, p. 144
  3. ↑ Stefan Hermes, Sebastian Kaufmann: The whole human being - the whole human race: Ethnological anthropology, literature and aesthetics around 1800 . Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2014, ISBN 978-3-11-036713-3 , p. 93 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
predecessor Office successor
Johann Matthias Gesner Director of the Göttingen University Library
1761–1763 		Christian Gottlob Heyne
personal data
SURNAME Michaelis, Johann David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German orientalist and theologian
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1717
PLACE OF BIRTH Hall
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1791
Place of death Goettingen