Otto Casmann

Otto Casmann or Otho Casmann (* 1562 in Warburg ; † August 1, 1607 in Stade ) - also known under the Latinized name Casmannus - was a German humanist , astronomer, physicist and theologian who converted from Catholicism to Protestantism as a young man .

Life

From 1581 Casmann studied philosophy with Rudolf Goclenius the Elder in Marburg . From September 1582 he studied philosophy and theology in Helmstedt . There he earned a master's degree in philosophy. In 1587 he enrolled for studies at the University of Heidelberg .

Already in Helmstedt Casmann took up a teaching activity with lectures on logic in which he spoke out clearly against the Aristotelian system. In 1589 Casmann went to the Schüttorfer Trivialschule, which was relocated to Steinfurt in 1591 and expanded into the academic high school Illustre. Here he taught philosophy and anthropology. In 1594 Casmann received an appointment for the rector's office in Stade, where the magistrate had set up a grammar school . In Stade Casmann taught philosophy and theology with a focus on logic and natural philosophy .

Casmann is important for the history of anthropology and psychology . He initiated the solution of these two sciences from Aristotelian metaphysics and is thus a classic representative of the secularization of the sciences in the early modern period. In the work Psychologia anthropologica, sive animae humanae doctrina (Hanau, 1594) , created during his time in Steinfurt, he consolidated the concept of "anthropology" coined by Magnus Hundt (1449–1519). Casmann wrote the second volume Psychologia anthropologica (Hanau 1596, also called Secunda pars anthropologiae: hoc est: fabrica humani corporis ) on the structure of the human body during his time in Stade. In 1594 Casmann defined anthropology as "the doctrine of human nature". "Human nature is a peculiarity of being, which is part of the double world-nature, the spiritual and the physical, which are united in a basic stock." This definition, based in the 17th century on psychology and anatomy as pillars of an anthropology, is valid until today.

Otto Casmann died probably as a result of overwork at the age of 45 on August 1, 1607 in Stade. He left a wife and three daughters.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Latin: “Anthropologia est doctrina humanae naturae. Humana natura est geminae naturae mundanae, spiritualis et carpareae, in unum hyphistamenon unitae particeps essentia "
2. ↑ Axel W. Bauer : What is man? Attempts at answering medical anthropology. In: Specialized prose research - Crossing borders. Volume 8/9, 2012/2013 (2014), pp. 437–453, here: p. 442.

literature

• D. Mahnke: Rector Casmann in Stade: a forgotten opponent of Aristotelian philosophy and natural scientist in the 16th century . In: Archives for the history of science and technology . No. 5 , 1913, pp. 183-97, 226-40, 352-63 .
• Arthur Richter:  Casmann, Otto . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 54.