Maggs Bros.

A textbook on the history of philosophy by the German ‘popular philosopher’ Johann August Eberhard (1739-1809), best-known as an opponent of Kant. The book was based on Eberhard’s lectures at Halle and a second revised edition was followed in 1796. The history is in 307 short sections and runs up to the time of Leibniz and Wolff. The final two sections summarise recent developments in France and Britain.

’Eberhard can be considered one of the most eminent representatives of German popular philosophy in the late eighteenth century. In opposition to abstract philosophical speculations, his writings are representative of a more empirical approach. He stimulated the contemporary debates in epistemology and metaphysics as well as in anthropology, the theory of emotions, moral philosophy, theology, cultural theory and the analysis of language. He engaged in the public debates on Enlightenment philosophy’ (Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers).