Johann Gottfried Herder: Biography Of This German Philosopher
Johann Gottfried von Herder was a very important figure for German Romanticism, although he did not live it fully. His particular philosophy was a precursor to the Sturm un Drang movement, which in turn was a precursor to the Romantic movement.
Unlike the Enlightenment, he considered that there were differences between men and that each nation had its particular spirit, its Volkgeist. Furthermore, he longed for the Middle Ages, seeing it as the origin of the people of Europe.
This intellectual had contact with great figures of his time, such as Kant and Diderot, in addition to having a notable influence on Goethe. In this biography of Johann Gottfried Harder we will see more about his life that of a thinker who, in addition to his way of thinking, his exaltation of individualism and the nation made him a reference for the romantics.
Johann Gottfried von Herder was a German critic, theologian and philosopher whose work is considered a precursor of literary romanticism in Germany His works promoted the nationalist spirit in defense of the cultural traits and personality of the German people, ideas that resonated with writers of the stature of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a disciple of Harder and a key figure in German nationalism and romanticism.
Herder considered that it was essential to understand the context when understanding the artistic works and culture of each country, in addition to being necessary to make an in-depth study of the history of that nation, understanding the changes and sociocultural processes that have led people to behave the way they do To understand the present and predict what the future will be like, you must first understand past events.
Taking this into account, it is not surprising that Johann Gottfried von Herder addressed topics such as the history of man since ancient civilizations, the origin of language, the influence of religious rites and their doctrines. Furthermore, contrary to the majority opinion of many thinkers of his time, He focused on the Middle Ages, seeing it as a period not as dark as the Enlightenment wanted to portray it being the origin of the European peoples as they are today.
Early years
Johann Gottfried Herder was born on August 25, 1744 in Mohrungen (now Morąg, Poland), then East Prussia. His parents were Gottfried Herder and Anna Elizabeth Peltz, who gave their six children a strongly religious but low-income home education. The young Johann learned by consulting his father’s Bible and, in his early years, he learned what his parents could teach him within their possibilities
Fortunately, he managed to attend the local school, although frequently receiving aid to continue his studies. At the age of 16 she obtained free accommodation in the home of the vicar Sebastian Trescho in exchange for helping him by working as a copyist. While in the religious man’s home, he had the opportunity to consult his extensive library, a place where he was able to self-taught many theological issues and various cultural aspects.
Initially, Herder was going to be a doctor, although he did not have the money to afford studies The surgeon JC Schwarz-Erla, who had visited the town of Herder in the company of a military regiment, offered to pay for his medical studies at the University of Köningsberg and, in fact, he enrolled to obtain the degree. However, as time went by he discovered that this was not his vocation and he preferred to study theology.
In 1762, at the age of 17, he began his studies at the University of Köningsberg. Over there He was a student of the well-known Immanuel Kant, considered the founder of critical philosophy Kant was a great reference for Herder, and in fact he dedicated works towards his figure, although he would later show certain disagreements with his philosophy.
It would also be around this time that Johann Gottfried Herder would become a protégé of Johann Georg Hamann , a philosopher from Köningsberg. The young Herder would share with him the rejection of the Enlightenment rationalism prevailing at the time.
First jobs
In 1764 Johann Gottfried Herder moved to the Latvian city of Riga, then part of the Russian Empire There he would be ordained a Protestant pastor and would serve as both a teacher and a preacher. It would be at this time that his first works would see the light of day, including “Fragmente über die neuere deutsche Literatur” (Fragments about German Literature, 1765).
Shortly after, the young man would embark on a trip to Europe, being only 20 years old. It would be on this journey that his way of seeing life would change, something that is reflected in his Journal meiner Reise im Jahr 1769” (Diary of my trip of 1769). In fact, in this text he makes it very clear that he has abandoned the safety of his social bubble, so to speak, to immerse himself in a journey to the unknown, to the new, to the outside of the academic.
He would end up arriving in Strasbourg, an important cultural center of the time. In the Franco-German city he would meet a young Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), a very important person for the great movement that was German Romanticism, and also a great reference in the consolidation of the idea of Germany as a nation. Herder and Goethe would talk about many topics, and the latter would acknowledge having received influences from him thanks to his observations on Homer, Shakespeare, Pindar and various literature.
In France he would also have contact with Denis Diderot, Jean le Rond D’Alembert and the encyclopedists. He would study the works of Rousseau and develop one of his most important works, “Kritische Wälder. Oder Betrachtungen, die Wissenschaft und Kunst des Schönen betreffend” (Silvas criticisms or reflections on the science and art of beauty, 1769), text considered a direct antecedent of the “Sturm und Drang” (Storm and Spirit) movement, a literary movement that anticipated romanticism by demanding a national conception of art and vindicating individualism and feelings.
Shortly after, in 1770 he would move to Hamburg, a city where he would meet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. He would later travel to Darmstadt, where he would meet his future wife Maria Karoline Flachsland, whom he would marry in 1773 and have seven children.
Precursor of the romantics
In 1771 he moved to Bückeburg, serving as a town councilor until 1776 and would publish shortly after his “Abhandlung über den Ursprung der Sprache” (Essay on the origin of language, 1772), where he highlights the natural and evolutionary character of language in addition to being the protagonist in any cognitive process. This work would earn him a prize from the Berlin Academy.
Thanks to being recommended by Goethe, Johann Gottfried Herder was appointed general superintendent of the Weimar Lutheran Church in 1776 At this same time he would publish an important essay on the philosophy of mind, called “On the Knowledge and Feeling of the Human Soul” in 1778.
Widely interested in ancient history and, especially, the Middle Ages, between 1778 and 1779 he wrote “Volkslieder nebst untermischten anderen Stücken” (The voices of the people in songs), a work in which he grouped together very important poems from the Bible, Homer , Ossian and other historical figures, as well as his poems along with those of Goethe and Matthias Claudius. They were poems that did not always fit the artistic trend of the moment, denoting certain classical influences on Herder rather than illustrated ones.
Weimar would become his city of residence until his death, only leaving it to make a stay in Italy precisely between the years in which he wrote “The voices of the people in songs.” Weimar had become the center of German classicism and thanks to his work as a court preacher and member of the consistory, Herder lived a relatively safe and everyday life for the rest of his life, with the exception of some philosophical confrontations and the publication of several more works.
Last years and death
He spent his last years relatively comfortable in Weimar, but in the philosophical sphere he had to live through tense situations. His support for revolutionary ideas from France made him antagonize his friends, and he began to distance himself from Goethe. It also didn’t help that he began to criticize Kant’s philosophy, that of his own mentor, causing his popularity to decline at the end of his life and he ended up distancing himself from his social circle.
But despite these quarrels, his thought, work and philosophy were very important for the time, so much so that in 1802 he was given the prefix “von” to his surname by the prince of Bavaria, officially renaming himself Johann Gottfried von Herder and acquiring a name proper to a nobleman, clearly distinguishing him. He would die just a year later, on December 18, 1803 at the age of 59.
The work of Johann Gottfried Herder is a clear reflection of his personality and intellectuality. He does not limit himself to talking about a single topic or being constant in it, but he he writes with great passion about theology, philosophy, literature, philology, history and his German nation all together , mixing multiple themes. This was used by his critics as a negative point, calling his works grammatically and emotionally disordered, as if more than an academic work it were a casual speech converted into a text.
The spirit of the people
He certainly had a writing style that was not typical of an intellectual, but that does not make his works any less important. His work focused on rescuing German history and culture, analyzing how they had progressed throughout history and how historical events influenced the character and current situation of the people. Many consider that Herder was one of the main precursors of the “Volkgeist” or spirit of the people, an idea that encompasses the unique features of each nation, and that was already present in works prior to “official” German romanticism, just the time of this author. .
Present past and future
Johann Gottfried Herder He wanted to foresee how his country could evolve socially, and to do so, instead of looking at the present, he decided to do so by looking at the past For this reason he became interested in knowing and publishing the origin of the popular songs of the Middle Ages, a time that many considered dark but he really saw a lot of light in it. It was a time in which European cultures emerged, their traditions and songs being transmitted completely orally.
The Enlightenment, in addition to being contrary to the medieval, proclaimed that all men were equal, something that Herder rejected For this German philosopher, each nation is different, in that it has its own spirit, its “Volkgeist”, and that only people who have been exposed to the characteristics of their country, both culturally (language, history, traditions) …) as geographical (climate, topography) and historical (political changes…) can really understand that nation.
Another idea, and this one really controversial, was that Herder was totally against talking about the Enlightenment as synonymous with the maximum moment of cultural development of the human being. This movement considered that men were at the peak of human history, something that Johann Gottfried Herder claimed was a lie, since in previous times there were much more brilliant characters, with the Middle Ages being an important moment of philosophical splendor in multiple aspects.
