Johann Christoph Schwab

Johann Christoph Schwab (10 December 1743 - 15 April 1821) was a Württemberg philosopher.

Biography Johann Christoph Schwab was born in Ilsfeld, a small country town in the hills north of Stuttgart. His father was an accountant employed in the public service.

Schwab died at Stuttgart on 15 April 1821. Perhaps the most significant of those prizes was the first, awarded in 1784, won ex-aequo with Antoine de Rivarol, in an essay investigating why French had become a universal international language across Europe, how long this situation might continue, and whether the distinction was merited.

Political career Shortly after receiving this prize he was summoned to Berlin by Frederick the Great, a lover of French language and culture. He was offered a post at the Military Academy in Berlin, which at this time was the principal government supported education establishment in Prussia. In the event, however, Schwab received more persuasive offers of preferment at home. The Prince of Württemberg gave him a government appointment as privy secretary in Stuttgart.

When the duke died in 1793 and was succeeded by his brother, Duke Louis Eugene, who had known Schwab when they had been young men in the French speaking area north of Geneva, appointed him privy councillor. There were those who questioned whether he was fit to occupy a senior position in government. However, he continued to hold a succession of appointments during these turbulent years, and in 1816 the new king, William I, appointed him an Oberstudienrat (senior counsellor).

Alongside his government responsibilities, Schwab continued his work as a philosopher until 1813. His final work, "On the dark precepts" ("Von den dunkeln Vorstellungen") continued to apply and refine the Leibniz method even though he was well aware that by now this left him isolated from what had become the intellectual mainstream.

Published works Zwölf Gedichte. Typographische Gesellschaft, Bern 1775. (digital copy) Dissertatio Logica De Methodo Analytica. Cotta, Stuttgart 1779. (digital copy) Von den Ursachen der Allgemeinheit der Französischen Sprache und wahrscheinlichen Dauer ihrer Herrschaft. Heerbarndt, Tübingen 1785. (digital copy) Einige Bemerkungen über die Apologie des Herrn Rektors Forberg zu Saalfeld wegen des ihm angeschuldigten Atheismus. Heerbrandt, Tübingen 1800. (digital copy) Prüfung der Kantischen Begriffe von der Undurchdringlichkeit der Körper. Schwickert, Leipzig 1807. (digital copy) Commentatio in primum elementorum Euclidis librum. Steinkkopf, Stuttgart 1814. (digital copy)