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Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg

1802–1872

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Trendelenburg held that motion is the fundamental fact common to thought and being, and he used an Aristotelian logic to deny Hegel’s claim that dialectic is an absolute method.

Placement

German Idealism & Its Heirs · Western Europe · Logic, Metaphysics, Epistemology

Berlin philosopher and Aristotle scholar who countered Hegel’s dialectic with an Aristotelian logic of motion; teacher of Brentano and Dilthey, and author of the Leibniz essay Frege cites in the Begriffsschrift.

Key ideas

  • Critique of Hegel’s dialectic
  • Motion as the common ground of thought and being

Students: Wilhelm Dilthey, Franz Brentano

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Influence

Influenced 3

  • Wilhelm Dilthey taught

    taught

    In Berlin Dilthey came under the influence of Trendelenburg and Boeckh, both pupils of Schleiermacher. SEP “Wilhelm Dilthey” (R. Makkreel), §1.2

    Evidence: AI draft

    Wilhelm Dilthey › 1833–1911

  • Franz Brentano taught

    taught ✓

    Brentano studied Aristotle with Trendelenburg in Berlin. SEP “Franz Brentano” (W. Huemer), §1

    Evidence: also in Wikidata · Wikidata

    Franz Brentano › 1838–1917

  • Gottlob Frege

    influenced

    In the preface to the Begriffsschrift Frege refers to Trendelenburg’s essay on Leibniz’s plan for a universal characteristic when he presents his concept-script as a step toward Leibniz’s ideal. Frege, Begriffsschrift (1879), preface and note 2, in van Heijenoort (ed.), From Frege to Gödel (1967), p. 6; cf. SEP “Gottlob Frege” §2.1

    Evidence: AI draft

    Gottlob Frege › 1848–1925

Criticism

Mutual critique 1

  • Kuno Fischer ⇄ mutual

    criticised

    Trendelenburg attacked Fischer’s reading of Kant’s doctrine of space in Kuno Fischer and His Kant (1869). Wikipedia, “Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg” (read); Britannica and Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy entries report the same dispute

    Evidence: AI draft

    criticised by

    Fischer answered Trendelenburg in 1870 with the Anti-Trendelenburg. Wikipedia, “Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg” (read)

    Evidence: AI draft

    Kuno Fischer › 1824–1907

Criticizes 1

  • Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

    criticised

    Trendelenburg’s Logical Investigations (1840) and The Logical Question in Hegel’s System (1843) contested Hegel’s claim to an absolute method. Wikipedia, “Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg” (read); Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Trendelenburg” (not accessible)

    Evidence: AI draft

    Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel › 1770–1831

Works

  • 1836Elements of Aristotelian Logic

    Trendelenburg’s Latin textbook of Aristotelian logic (1836): selected texts of Aristotle with explanations, written for teaching.

  • 1840Logical Investigations

    Trendelenburg’s main work of 1840, a critique of Hegel’s claim to an absolute method; he holds that motion is the fundamental fact common to being and thought and develops an Aristotelian idealism.

Position

Trendelenburg is on the map as the Berlin philosopher who revived Aristotle against Hegel. He called his position a modern Aristotelianism and a kind of Aristotelian idealism: motion is the fundamental fact common to being and thought, and the ultimate explanation of the universe lies in the category of end, which he defended against purely mechanical views. His Logical Investigations (1840) and The Logical Question in Hegel’s System (1843) contested Hegel’s claim to an absolute method and helped the reaction against Hegel. In Berlin Brentano studied Aristotle with him, Dilthey came under his influence together with Boeckh, and Friedrich Paulsen took his doctorate with him. In the preface of the Begriffsschrift (1879) Frege refers to his essay on Leibniz’s plan for a universal characteristic when he presents his concept-script as a step toward Leibniz’s ideal. From 1865 Trendelenburg disputed with Kuno Fischer over Kant’s doctrine of space.

Life & context

Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg was born on 30 November 1802 in Eutin. He studied in Kiel, Leipzig and Berlin and took his doctorate in Berlin in 1826 with a dissertation on Plato’s doctrine of ideas and numbers as shown by Aristotle. After seven years as a private tutor he became associate professor in Berlin in 1833 and full professor a few years later; he taught there for nearly forty years and died in Berlin on 24 January 1872.

Further main works

  • The Logical Question in Hegel’s System (Die logische Frage in Hegels System, 1843)
  • History of the Doctrine of Categories (Geschichte der Kategorienlehre, 1846)
  • Natural Law on the Ground of Ethics (Das Naturrecht auf dem Grunde der Ethik, 1860)
  • Kuno Fischer and His Kant (Kuno Fischer und sein Kant, 1869)

Sources: Wikipedia · Wikidata

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