Karl Ludwig Michelet

Karl Ludwig Michelet (December 4, 1801 – December 16, 1893), German philosopher, was born at Berlin.

He studied at the gymnasium and at the university of his native town, took his degree as doctor of philosophy in 1824, and became professor in 1829, a post which he retained till his death. Educated in the doctrine of Hegel, he remained faithful to his early teaching and spent his life in defending and continuing the Hegelian tradition. His first notable work was the "System der philosophischen Moral" (Berlin, 1828), an examination of the ethical theory of responsibility. In 1836 he published, in Paris, a treatise on the "Metaphysics" of Aristotle, written in French and crowned by the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. He wrote also two other treatises on Aristotle. "Nikomachische Ethik" (2nd ed., 1848) and "Die Ethik des Aristoteles in ihrem Verhältniss zum System der Moral" (1827). His own views are best expressed in his "Vorlesungen über die Persönlichkeit Gottes" (1841) and "Die Epiphanie der ewigen Persönlichkeit des Gottes". The philosophical theology developed in these works has been described as a "Neo-Christian Spiritualism."

Among his other publications may be mentioned "Geschichte der letzten Systeme der Philos. in Deutschland von Kant bis Hegel" (1837-1838); "Anthropologie und Psychologie" (1840); "Esquisse de logique" (Paris, 1856); "Naturrecht oder Rechtsphilosophie" (1866); "Hegel der unwiderlegte Weltphilosoph" (1870), "Wahrheit aus ineinem Leben" (1886).

From 1832 to 1842, Michelet was engaged in publishing the complete works of Hegel, and in 1845 he founded the Berlin Philosophical Society, which has continuously represented the Hegelianism of Germany. He was the first editor of "Der Gedanke" (1860), the official organ of the society.