Gabriel Wagner

Gabriel Wagner (c. 1660 – c. 1717) was a radical German philosopher and materialist who wrote under the nom-de-plume Realis de Vienna. A follower of Spinoza and acquaintance of Leibniz, Wagner did not believe that the universe or bible were divine creations, and sought to extricate philosophy and science from the influence of theology. Wagner also held radical political views critical of the nobility and monarchy. After failing to establish lasting careers in cities throughout German-speaking Europe, Wagner died in or shortly after 1717.

Life

Christian Thomasius, an early mentor and later opponent of Wagner. Wagner studied under scholar Christian Thomasius in Leipzig, and in 1691 published a philosophical tract critical of Thomasius, "Discourse and doubts in Christ: a Thomasian introduction to courtly philosophy." The tract satirically dubbed Thomasius the "German Socrates" and attracted attention within philosophical circles, including from Leibniz, who sought to contact Wagner. Leibniz wrote to Wagner in 1696, describing his admiration for Aristotle and opposing contemporary attacks on him, despite his view that Aristotle had discovered only a small portion of the discipline.

Opposing his former mentor Thomasius' belief in the soul, Wagner published another text in 1707, "Critique of Thomasian views on the nature of the soul." Theologian Johann Joachim Lange accused Wagner of Spinozist sympathies in 1710, and Wagner replied to these criticisms in the same year. Deeply influenced by Spinoza, Wagner placed even greater emphasis on the importance of experimentation and empiricism in developing knowledge.

Wagner held radical political beliefs, advocating a restructuring of society according to more egalitarian principles and advocating greater emphasis on administration, education and culture. Reform of educational institutions was a particular concern of his writing. Wagner contested that aristocracy by birth was inferior to intellectual achievement. He also believed that Germany's fragmentary political system resulted in a weak and mismanaged government.

Historian Jonathan Israel writes that Wagner is an important materialist philosopher of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and an example of both radical philosophy and atheism produced by the growing university system of the period. Historian Frederick Beiser writes that Wagner and his fellow materialists in Germany, though they were less numerous than those found in France and England, developed mechanistic explanations for human behavior and raised fears of spreading religious skepticism.