Michael Hißmann (philosopher)

Michael Hißmann (born September 25, 1752 in Hermannstadt , † August 14, 1784 in Göttingen ) was a German-Transylvanian philosopher and university professor .

Life

Hißmann came from a wealthy family of bakers and first attended the school in Sibiu before after successful Konsistorialexamen 1773 he attended the University of Erlangen went to theology to study. He also studied philosophy , mathematics and physics there . In 1774 he moved to the University of Göttingen , where he first re-enrolled in theology, but then switched to philosophy. In 1776 he was accepted into the Royal German Society of Göttingen and in the same year with the dissertation De infinito. Dissertatio metaphysica prima ... for doctor of philosophy doctorate.

Hißmann did a lot of work and travel. This is said to have been the reason for his frequent illnesses and spa stays . After he failed to realize possible professorships at the universities in Halle , Helmstedt and Kiel , he became an associate professor in 1782 , then a full professor of philosophy at the University of Göttingen in 1784 . In 1784 he received a call from the University of Pest as full professor of philosophy and an improved offer from the University of Göttingen. In August 1784 he decided to take up the professorship in Pest , but could no longer take up the position since he had previously died of his tuberculosis disease.

Hißmann was a representative of materialistic philosophy and dealt with psychology .

Works (selection)

• Psychological Attempts, a Contribution to Esoteric Logic , 1777
• Guide to the Knowledge of Selected Literature in All Parts of Philosophy , 1778
• Letters on Objects of Philosophy , 1778
• Magazine for philosophy and its history , 6 volumes, 1778–83
• Investigations into the state of nature , anonym 1780
• Selected writings , ed. by Udo Roth and Gideon Stiening, Berlin 2013 [work profiles, ed. by Frank Grunert and Gideon Stiening, vol. 3]

Translations

• Charles de Brosses , On Language and Writing. Translated from French and accompanied with notes by Michael Hißmann. Volumes 1 and 2, Weygandsche Buchhandlung, Leipzig, 1777
• Jean Baptiste Claude Izouard Delisle de Sales, Charles Joseph de Meyer, Louis Sebastian Mercier, New World and Human History . From the French. With additions and comments by Michael Hißmann ( Histoire des hommes ou histoire nouvelle de tous les peuples du monde ) in 18 parts, Münster, Leipzig, 1781–1794
• Étienne Bonnot de Condillac , attempt on the origin of human knowledge ( Essai sur l'origine des connoissances humaines ) in 2 parts, Leipzig, 1780

literature

• Carl von Prantl :  Hißmann, Michael . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 503.
• Udo Thiel : Hissmann, Michael , in: Knud Haakonssen: The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Philosophy 2, Cambridge University Press 2006, p. 1181
• Heiner F. Klemme, Gideon Stiening, Falk Wunderlich: Michael Hißmann (1752-1784): A materialistic philosopher of the German Enlightenment , Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-05-005678-4