Editing Franz Xaver von Baader

{{Short description|German philosopher and theologian (1765–1841)}}
[[Image:Franz Xaver von Baader.jpg|thumb|right|Franz Xaver von Baader]]

'''Franz von Baader''' (27 March 1765&nbsp;– 23 May 1841), born '''Benedikt Franz Xaver Baader''', was a [[German people|German]] [[Catholic]] [[philosopher]], [[theologian]], [[physician]], and [[mining engineer]]. Resisting the [[empiricism]] of his day, he denounced most [[Western philosophy]] since [[Descartes]] as trending into [[atheism]] and has been considered a revival of the [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]] school.

He was one of the most influential theologians of his age but his influence on subsequent philosophy has been less marked, and tends to be submerged into the esoteric discussions of later thinkers rather than cited explicitly in major publications. A notable exception to this tendency appears in the correspondence and later explication of the origins of [[Walter Benjamin]] and [[Gershom Scholem|Gershom Scholem's]] mystical project published after Benjamin's death where both Baader and Molitor are cited as catalytic to their exploration of the Kabbalah.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scholem |first=Gershom |title=On the Possibility of Jewish Mysticism in Our Time |publisher=Schocken |year=1980 |pages=1–3 |chapter="A Candid Letter on My Intentions in Studying Kabbalah"(addressed to [[Salman Schocken]], 1926)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Scholem |first=Gershom |title=On the Possibility of Jewish Mysticism in Our Time |publisher=Schocken |year=1980 |pages=4–12 |chapter=How I Came To Kabbalah}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Benjamin |first=Walter |title=Reflections |publisher=Schocken |year=1978 |pages=314–332 |chapter=The Language of Man and Language as Such}}</ref> An exemplar of the tendency to conceal Baader's influence shows up at an important juncture in the thought of [[Martin Heidegger]]: Both Benjamin and Heidegger begin with similar problems derived from a revisitation of major issues in early scholastic thought in the 1913 seminar of [[Heinrich Rickert]]—a terrain towards which Baader points the way, and leaves his mark on the formulations of both Benjamin and Heidegger. Heidegger (characteristically) does not cite Baader's work directly: rather, his terminology and manner of speaking about the problem of evil suggest that he read Baader on this subject, tracing [[Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling|Schelling's]] formulations on [[theodicy]] to their roots in Baader on his way to the primary documents of [[Duns Scotus]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bernasconi |first=Robert |date=2018-05-20 |title=Being is Evil: Boehme's Strife and Schelling's Rage in Heidegger's "Letter on 'Humanism'" |url=https://www.beyng.com/papers/Gatherings2017-10Bernasconi.html |journal=Gatherings: The Heidegger Circle Annual |language=en |volume=7 |pages=164–181|doi=10.5840/gatherings2017710 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Heidegger |first=Martin |title=Country path conversations |date=2016 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-02163-2 |edition= |series=Studies in continental thought |location=Bloomington Indianapolis |translator-last=Davis |translator-first=Bret W.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Heidegger |first=Martin |title=The Theory of Categories and Meaning in Duns Scotus |orig-date=1915 |year=2022 |publisher=Indiana University}}</ref>

Today Baader is thought to have re-introduced theological engagement with [[Meister Eckhart]] into academia and even [[Christianity]] and [[Theosophy (Boehmian)|Theosophy]] more generally.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Josephson-Storm | first = Jason | title = The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | date = 2017 |page = 189 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xZ5yDgAAQBAJ | isbn = 978-0-226-40336-6 }}</ref>

== Life ==
Benedikt Franz Xaver Baader{{sfn|Abashnik|2010}} was born in [[Munich]], [[Electorate of Bavaria|Bavaria]], on 27 March 1765.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=173}} He was the third son of Joseph Franz von Paula Baader{{refn|group=lower-alph|His first name is spelled "Josef" in some records.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}}} (15 September 1733&nbsp;– 16 February 1794) and Maria Dorothea Rosalia von Schöpf (25 October 1742&nbsp;– 5 February 1829),{{sfn|Hoffman|1857|pp=1–3}}{{sfn|Grassl|1953|pp=474}}{{refn|group=lower-alph|In some records her middle name is spelled "Rosalie." Also, in some records her last name is spelled "von Schöpff". She was a daughter of Johann Adam von Schöpf (1702 – 10 January 1772).{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}}} who were married on 23 May 1761. In 1775, Franz's father Joseph became the court physician of [[Maximilian III Joseph]],{{sfn|Hoffman|1857|p=3}} the [[elector of Bavaria]]. (The elector died two years later.)

Franz' two older brothers were both distinguished men. Clemens Alois Andreas Baader{{refn|group=lower-alph|In some records, Clemens's middle name is spelled "Aloys" or "Aloysius".{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}}} (8 April 1762&nbsp;– 23 March 1838) was an author. [[Joseph von Baader|Joseph Anton Ignaz Baader]] (30 September 1763&nbsp;– 20 November 1835) was an [[engineer]].{{sfn|Hoffman|1857|pp=4–5}}

Franz studied [[medicine]] at [[Ingolstadt]] and [[Vienna]], and for a short time assisted his father in his medical practice. However, Franz soon discovered that life as a physician did not suit him, and he decided to become a mining engineer instead.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=173}} He studied under [[Abraham Gottlob Werner]] at [[Freiberg]], travelled through several of the mining districts in north Germany, and resided in [[Kingdom of Great Britain|England]] from 1792 to 1796.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=173}}

In England, Franz von Baader became acquainted with the [[empiricism]] of [[David Hume]], [[David Hartley (philosopher)|David Hartley]], and [[William Godwin]], which was extremely distasteful to him. But he also came into contact with the mystical speculations of [[Meister Eckhart]], [[Louis Claude de Saint-Martin]], and above all those of [[Jakob Böhme]], which were more to his liking. In 1796, he returned to Germany and, in [[Hamburg]], became acquainted with [[F. H. Jacobi]], with whom he became close friends. He also came into contact with [[Friedrich Schelling]], and the works he published during this period were manifestly influenced by that philosopher, though Baader maintained his independence from Schelling.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=173}}{{refn|group=lower-alph|On Baader's influence on and friendship with Schelling and the reasons for their eventual break with one another, see [[Marie-Élise Zovko|Zovko]].{{sfn|Zovko|1996|pp=86–139, 191–269, 270–312}}}}

Their friendship continued till about the year 1822, when Baader's denunciation of modern philosophy in his letter to [[Russian Empire|Tsar]] [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] entirely alienated Schelling.
During this time, Baader continued to apply himself to his profession.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|pp=173–174}}

He gained a prize of 12,000 [[Bavarian gulden|gulden]] (≈117&nbsp;[[kg]] [[silver]]) for his new method of employing [[sodium sulfate]] instead of [[potash]] in the making of [[glass]]. From 1817 to 1820, he held the post of superintendent of mines and was raised to the rank of nobility for his services.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} He retired in 1820, and thereafter published one of the best of his works, ''Fermenta Cognitionis'' in 6 parts from 1822 to 1825. In it, he combats modern philosophy and recommends the study of Böhme.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}}

In 1826, when the new university was opened in Munich, he was appointed professor of philosophy and speculative theology. He published some of his lectures there in 4 parts from 1827 to 1836 under the title ''{{lang|de|Spekulative Dogmatik}}''.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}}

His 1831 "Forty Sentences from a Religious Erotic" was dedicated to [[Emilie Linder]], a Munich painter.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last=Historische Commission bei der königl. Akademie der Wissenschaften|title=Linder, Emilie|date=1883|url=https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/ADB:Linder,_Emilie|work=Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Bd. 18|pages=697|series=Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie|edition=1.|place=München/Leipzig|publisher=Duncker & Humblot|access-date=2021-04-02}}</ref>

In 1838, he publicly opposed the interference of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] in civil matters and, in consequence, was interdicted from lecturing on the philosophy of religion during the last three years of his life. He died on 23 May 1841.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} He is buried in the [[Alter Südfriedhof]] in Munich.

==Philosophy==
Baader frequently wrote in obscure [[aphorism]]s or mystical symbols and analogies.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}}<ref>{{citation |last=Zeller |first=Eduard |author-link=Eduard Zeller |title=Ges. d. deut. Phil. |pages=732, 736 |language=de}}</ref> His doctrines are mostly expounded in short detached essays, in comments on the writings of Böhme and St-Martin, or in his extensive correspondence and journals.{{sfn|Giles |1911|p=88}} Baader starts from the position that human reason by itself can never reach the end at which it aims and maintains that we cannot throw aside the presuppositions of faith, church, and tradition. His point of view may be compared to [[Scholasticism]], since like the Scholastics he believed that theology and philosophy are not opposed but that reason has to make clear the truths given by authority and revelation.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} In his attempts to draw the realms of faith and knowledge still closer, however, he approaches the mysticism of [[Meister Eckhart]], [[Paracelsus]], and Böhme.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} Our existence depends upon God's cognition of us.{{sfn|Giles |1911|p=88}}{{refn|group=lower-alph|In [[Latin]]: ''{{lang|la|cogitor ergo cogito et sum}}''. ("I am thought of, therefore I think and am."){{sfn|Giles |1911|p=88}} See also [[Descartes]]'s ''[[cogito ergo sum]]''.}} All self-consciousness is at the same time God-consciousness, and all knowledge is knowing with, consciousness of, or participation in God.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}}

==Theology==
Baader's philosophy is thus essentially a form of [[theosophy (history of philosophy)|theosophy]].{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} God is not to be conceived as mere abstract Being ({{langx|la|substantia}}) but as the primary [[will (philosophy)|Will]] at the basis of all things and an everlasting process or activity (''{{lang|la|actus}}'').{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} This process functions as a self-generation of God, in which we may distinguish two aspects—the immanent or esoteric and the eminent or exoteric.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} Only insofar as the "primitive will" thinks or is conscious of itself can it distinguish knower and known, producer and produced, from which proceeds the power to become spirit.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} God has His reality only insofar as He is absolute spirit.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} The [[Trinity]] (called ''{{lang|la|Ternar}}'' in Baader) is not a given but is rendered possible, is mirrored in, and takes place through the eternal and impersonal idea or wisdom of God, which exists beside through not distinct from the "primitive will".{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} Personality and concrete reality is given to separate aspects of this Trinity through nature, which is eternally and necessarily produced by God.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} These aspects of existence do not occur successively within time but occur ''{{lang|la|[[sub specie aeternitatis]]}}'' as necessary elements of the self-evolution of divine Being.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} Its "nature" is not to be confused with the [[nature]] of [[Creation (mythology)|Creation]], which is an unnecessary, free, and non-temporal act of God's love and will which cannot be speculatively deduced but must be accepted as a historic fact.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}}

Created beings were originally of three orders: the intelligent or [[angel]]s; the non-intelligent material world; and [[humans|man]], who mediated between them.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} Angels and man were endowed with [[free will (theology)|freedom]]. The [[Fall of Adam]] and [[Fallen angel|Lucifer]] were historic facts which were possible, though not necessary.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} Baader considered the angels to have fallen through a desire to ascend to equality with God (i.e., [[pride]]) and man through permitting himself to sink to the level of nature (via the [[seven deadly sins|various bodily sins]]).{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} Baader considered that the world as we know it—with [[time]], [[space]], and [[matter]]—only began after the fall of mankind and was created as a gift from God permitting humanity the opportunity for [[redemption (theology)|redemption]].{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} Baader developed theories of [[physiology]] and [[anthropology]] over a number of works based upon this understanding of the universe, but in the main coincides with the ideas of Böhme.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} Principally, he traces the adverse effects of various [[sin]]s and advocates the restoration of natural harmonies by its removal.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}}

His system of [[ethics]] rejects the idea that obedience to moral laws alone (as in [[Kantianism]]) is enough. Instead, though humanity has lost the ability to accomplish this on its own, it is necessary to realize and participate in our place in the divine order.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} As [[grace (Christianity)|grace]] is required for such a realization, no ethical theory neglecting sin and [[redemption (theology)|redemption]] is satisfactory or even possible.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=174}} [[Good works|Mere works]] are never sufficient, but [[Christ]]'s healing virtue must be received, chiefly through [[prayer]] and the [[Catholic Sacraments|sacraments of the church]].{{sfn|Adamson|1878|pp=174–175}}

Baader was regarded as among the greatest speculative theologians of 19th-century [[Catholicism]] and influenced, among others, [[Richard Rothe]], [[Julius Müller (theologian)|Julius Müller]], and [[Hans Lassen Martensen]].{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=175}}

==Politics==
Baader argued that two things were requisite in the [[state (polity)|state]]: common submission to the ruler (without which there would be [[civil war]] or [[invasion]]) and inequality of rank (without which there would be no [[government|organization]]).{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=175}} As Baader considered God alone to be the true ruler of mankind, he argued that loyalty to a government can be secured or given only when it was truly Christian;{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=175}} he opposed [[despotism]], [[socialism]], [[liberalism]] equally.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=175}} His [[utopia|ideal state]] was a civil community ruled by the [[Catholic Church]], whose principles opposed both passive and irrational [[pietism]] and the excessively rational doctrines of [[Protestantism]].{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=175}}

==Regarding the sexes==
One of Baader's central ideas is his concept of [[androgyny]]:
{{blockquote|The Androgyne is the harmonious fusion of the sexes, resulting in a certain [[asexuality]], a synthesis which creates an entirely new being, and which does not merely juxtapose the two sexes 'in an enflamed opposition' as the [[hermaphrodite]] does. }}
Following the literal wording of the first of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]'s [[Creation of Man|two accounts of the creation of man]], Baader says that Man was originally an androgynous being. Neither man nor woman is the "image and likeness of God" but only the androgyne. Both sexes are equally fallen from the original divinity of the androgyne. Androgynism is man's likeness to God, his supernatural upsurge. Hence it follows that sexes must cease and vanish. From these positions Baader interpreted the sacrament of marriage as a symbolic restitution of angelic bisexuality: 
{{blockquote|The secret and the sacrament of true love in the indissoluble bond of the two lovers, consists in each helping the other, each in himself, towards the restoration of the androgyne, the pure and whole humanity. }}
Ultimately Christ's sacrifice will make possible a restoration of the primal androgyny. Baader believed that primordial androgyny would return as the world neared its end.{{sfn|Dynes|1990|p=57}}

==Works==
Several years after his death, Baader's works were collected and edited by a number of his disciples. This was published in 16 volumes at [[Leipzig]] between 1851 and 1860, organized by topic.{{sfn|Hoffman|1851–1860}} Vol.&nbsp;I dealt with [[epistemology]], Vol.&nbsp;II with [[metaphysics]], Vol.&nbsp;III with [[natural philosophy]], Vol.&nbsp;IV with [[anthropology]], Vols.&nbsp;V & VI with [[sociology|social philosophy]], Vols.&nbsp;VII through X with [[philosophy of religion]], Vol.&nbsp;XI with Baader's [[diary|diaries]], Vol.&nbsp;XII with his commentaries on St-Martin, Vol.&nbsp;XIII with his commentaries on Böhme, Vol.&nbsp;XIV with [[time]], and Vol.&nbsp;XV with his biography and correspondence.{{sfn|Hoffman|1851–1860}} Vol.&nbsp;XVI contained an index to the others, as well as an able sketch of his system by [[Johann Anton Bernhard Lutterbeck|Lutterbeck]].{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=175}} Valuable introductions by the editors are prefixed to the several volumes.{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=175}}

* ''Texte zur Naturphilosophie (1792–1808)''. Historisch-kritische kommentierte Ausgabe. Herausgegeben von Alberto Bonchino. Leiden/Paderborn 2021 (= Franz von Baader: Ausgewählte Werke, Bd. 1), {{ISBN|978-3-506-77937-3}}, E-Book {{ISBN|978-3-657-77937-6}}
* ''Texte zur Mystik und Theosophie (1808–1818)''. Historisch-kritische kommentierte Ausgabe. Herausgegeben von Alberto Bonchino. Leiden/Paderborn 2021 (= Franz von Baader: Ausgewählte Werke, Bd. 2), {{ISBN|978-3-506-78075-1}}, E-Book {{ISBN|978-3-657-78075-4}}
* ''Fermenta Cognitionis (1822–1825)''. Historisch-kritische kommentierte Ausgabe. Herausgegeben von Alberto Bonchino. Leiden/Paderborn 2024 (= Franz von Baader: Ausgewählte Werke, Bd. 3), {{ISBN|978-3-506-79027-9}}, E-Book {{ISBN|978-3-657-79027-2}} 
* ''Vorlesungen über speculative Dogmatik (1828–1838)''. Historisch-kritische kommentierte Ausgabe. Herausgegeben von Alberto Bonchino. Leiden/Paderborn 2024 (= Franz von Baader: Ausgewählte Werke, Bd. 4), {{ISBN|978-3-506-79028-6}}, E-Book {{ISBN|978-3-657-79028-9}}

==Notes==
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{{reflist|20em}}

==References==
* {{citation |last=Abashnik  |first=Vladimir |contribution=Benedikt Franz Xaver von Baader  |title=The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers |volume=I |editor-first=Heiner F. |editor-last=Klemme |editor2-first=Manfred |editor2-last=Kuehn |location=London |publisher=Continuum International Publishing |date=2010 |pages=39–43 }}.
* {{cite EB9 |mode=cs2 |last=Adamson |first=Robert  |wstitle=Franz Xaver von Baader |volume=3   |pages=173–175 }}
* {{citation |last=Dynes |first=Wayne R. |contribution=Androgyny |contribution-url=http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/images/Androgyn.pdf |title=Encyclopedia of Homosexuality |location=New York |publisher=Garland Publishing |date=1990 |editor-last=Dynes |editor-first=Wayne R. |volume=I |pages=56–58 }}
*{{citation |last=Grassl |first=Hans |year=1953 |title=Baader, Benedikt Franz Xaver von  |encyclopedia=Neue Deutsche Biographie |edition=online |volume=1 |id=idn: 118505378 |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd118505378.html#ndbcontent  |pages=474–476 |language=de}}
* {{citation |last=Hoffman |first=Franz Karl |title=Franz von Baaders Biographie und Briefwechsel ''[Franz von Baader's Biography and Correspondence]'' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjcNAAAAYAAJ |location=Leipzig |publisher=Verlag von Herrmann Bethmann, reprinting Vol.&nbsp;XV of Baader's collected works as a separate volume |date=1857 |language=de}}
* {{citation |editor-last=Hoffman |editor-first=Franz Karl |display-editors=etal  |date=1851–1860 |url=http://www.members.shaw.ca/jgfriesen/Mainheadings/Baader.html  |title=Baaders Sämmtliche Werke ''[Baader's Complete Works]'' |location=Leipzig |publisher=Verlag von Herrmann Bethmann |language=de}}
* {{citation |first=Marie-Élise |last=Zovko |title=Natur und Gott: Das wirkungsgeschichtliche Verhältnis Schellings und Baaders |location=Würzburg |publisher=Königshausen & Neumann |date=1996 |isbn=978-3-8260-1187-0 }}

===Attribution===
* {{EB1911 |mode=cs2 |last=Giles |first=Peter |wstitle=Baader, Franz Xaver von |volume=3  |pages=87–88}}

==External links==
* {{cite ADB|1|713|725|Baader, Franz von|Franz Hoffmann |ADB:Baader, Franz von |ref=none}}
* {{cite CE1913|wstitle=Franz Xaver von Baader |short=x}}
* {{citation|ref=none |first=J. Glenn |last=Friesen |title=Studies related to Franz von Baader |url=http://www.members.shaw.ca/jgfriesen/Mainheadings/Baader.html |language=En}}&nbsp;& {{in lang|de}}

{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= Germany}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Baader, Benedikt Franz Xaver von}}
[[Category:1765 births]]
[[Category:1841 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century German philosophers]]
[[Category:19th-century German Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:German ethicists]]
[[Category:German Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Burials at the Alter Südfriedhof]]
[[Category:19th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:19th-century German writers]]
[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:19th-century German philosophers]]
[[Category:19th-century German physicians]]