Christian Wolff (philosopher) - Works

Works

Wolff's most important works are as follows:

  • Anfangsgründe aller mathematischen Wissenschaften (1710); in Latin, Elementa matheseos universae, 1713–1715)
  • Vernünftige Gedanken von den Kräften des menschlichen Verstandes (1712; Eng. trans. 1770)
  • Vern. Ged. von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen, auch allen Dingen überhaupt (1719)
  • Vern. Ged. von der Menschen Thun und Lassen (1720)
  • Vern. Ged. von dem gesellschaftlichen Leben der Menschen (1721)
  • Vern. Ged. von den Wirkungen der Natur (1723)
  • Vern. Ged. von den Absichten der natürlichen Dinge (1724)
  • Vern. Ged. von dem Gebrauche der Theile in Menschen, Thieren und Pflanzen (1725); the last seven may briefly be described as treatises on logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, political philosophy, theoretical physics, teleology, physiology
  • Philosophia rationalis, sive logica (1728)
  • Philosophia prima, sive Ontologia (1730)
  • Cosmologia generalis (1731)
  • Psychologia empirica (1732)
  • Psychologia rationalis (1734)
  • Theologia naturalis (1736–1737)
  • Kleine philosophische Schriften, collected and edited by G.F. Hagen (1736–1740).
  • Philosophia practica universalis (1738–1739)
  • Jus naturae and Jus Gentium (1740–1749)
  • Jus Gentium Methodo Scientifica Pertractum (The Law of Nations According to the Scientific Method) (1749)
  • Philosophia moralis (1750–1753).

Wolff's complete writings have been published since 1962 in an annotated reprint collection, and thus are easily accessible:

  • Gesammelte Werke, Jean École et al. (eds.), 3 series (German, Latin, and Materials), Hildesheim-New York: Olms, 1962–.

This includes a volume that unites the three most important older biographies of Wolff.

An excellent modern edition of the famous Halle speech on Chinese philosophy is

  • Oratio de Sinarum philosophia practica / Rede über die praktische Philosophie der Chinesen, Michael Albrecht (ed.), Hamburg: Meiner, 1985.

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