Editing Johann Augustus Eberhard (section)

==Theological and philosophical work==

===Theology===
Eberhard argued in books such as ''Neue Apologie des Socrates'' that [[salvation]] did not depend upon [[revelation]], that it was possible for a {{linktext|heathen}} to go to [[heaven]], and that the notion of eternal punishment contradicted its supposed aim of morally improving the sinner.

===Philosophy===
Eberhard argued in support of [[John Locke]]'s position that all knowledge comes through the senses, but developed this into a full-blooded [[phenomenalism]].  In [[aesthetics]] he held a position that he called "subjective finalism", a label later adopted by [[Immanuel Kant]]: rather than being an objective property of objects, beauty is the relationship between the object and the representative power of the observer.  For him, then, art should aim to awake and stimulate the pleasurable passions. According to Eberhard, aesthetic activity first appears in children's play.

In his position as editor of the ''Philosophisches Magazin'' (1788–1792) and the ''Philosophisches Archiv'' (1792–1795), Eberhard published many articles (most of which he wrote himself) critical of Kant.  He argued that Kant's work was wholly derivative, simply adopting the work of [[Gottfried Leibniz]], and a variety of [[dogmatism]].  Kant responded to Eberhard's criticism in his ''Ueber eine Entdeckung, nach der alle neue Kritik der reinen Vernunft durch eine ältere entbehrlich gemacht werden soll'' (Königsberg, 1790).

===Works===
*''Neue Apologie des Socrates'' (two volumes, 1776–1778)
*''Allgemeine Theorie des Denkens und Empfindens'' (Berlin, 1776), won the [[Royal Society of Berlin]] prize for that year
*''Von dem Begriff der Philosophie und ihren Theilen'' (Berlin, 1778) — a short essay, in which he announced the plan of his lectures on being appointed to the professorship at Halle
*''Lobschrift auf Herrn Johann Thunmann Prof. der Weitweisheit und Beredsamkeit auf der Universität zu Halle'' (Halle, 1779)
*''Vorbereitung zur natürlichen Theologie'' (Halle, 1781), translated as ''Preparation for Natural Theology'' (Bloomsbury, 2016)
*''Amyntor, eine Geschichte in Briefen'' (Berlin, 1782)
*''Über die Zeichen der Aufklärung einer Nation'' (Halle, 1783)
*''Theorie der schönen Künste und Wissenschaften'' (Halle, 1783, third edition 1790)
*''Vermischte Schriften'' (Halle, 1784)
*''Neue vermischte Schriften'' (Halle, 1786)
*''Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie'' (Halle, 1788), second edition with a continuation and chronological tables (1796)
*''Versuch einer allgemeinen-deutschen Synonymik'' (Halle and Leipzig, 1795–1802, six volumes, fourth edition 1852–1853) — an abridgment was published by the author in one large volume (Halle, 1802)
*''Handbuch der Aesthetik'' (Halle, 1803–1805, second edition 1807–1820).