Johann Friedrich Schultz

Johann Friedrich Schultz, also known as Johann Schultz (11 June 1739, Mühlhausen – 27 June 1805, Königsberg), was a German Enlightenment Protestant theologian, mathematician and philosopher. He is best known as a close personal friend and trusted expositor (a person who explains complicated ideas) of Immanuel Kant. Johann Schultz was a Hofprediger (second court chaplain) and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Königsberg.

Personal life Schultz studied theology and mathematics at the Collegium Fridericianum at Königsberg University, where Immanuel Kant lectured, and matriculated on 24 September 1756. Ludwig Borowski, one of Kant's early biographers stated that Schultz was one of the best students of Kant, and this is often repeated in the literature, but Schultz denied ever having attended a lecture.

Schultz initially worked as a private tutor within Königsberg before undertaking employment as a pastor in Starkenberg between 1766 and 1769, taking similar employment at Löwenhagen between 1769 and 1775 before returning in 1775, to Königsberg to work as a Deacon at the Altroßgarten church. On 6 July 1775 he received his magister degree and on 2 August 1775, he took his examination for promotion of habilitation with a disputation on acoustics. He worked as a lecturer over the winter of 1775 and 1776. In 1777, he was made Hofprediger at Königsberg castle church. and Leonhard Euler Elements of Algebra (French: Élémens ďalgebre) and his own text for arithmetic, geometry and trigonometry. The relationship between Schultz and Fichte was more convoluted than it would otherwise be, as Johanna Eleonore, née Büttner (1751–1795), Schultz's wife, was romantically linked to Fichte. Fichte left Königsberg sooner than he initially planned.

Literature Schultz published poetry in his early life, and several Latin texts on theology in 1787 and 1791. However, most of his literature was concerned with creation of mathematical texts, including the explanation of Immanuel Kant's new critical system (critical philosophy, transcendental idealism). Schultz wrote and successfully published several mathematical texts including Foundation of Pure Mathematics in 1790, a Brief System of Mathematics first published in 1797 with new editions in 1805 and 1806. The work, although similar to work undertaken by the mathematicians Wenceslaus Johann Gustav Karsten, Georg Simon Klügel, and Johann Heinrich Lambert, would eventually result in the development of non-Euclidean geometry.

Other publications Reflections on the Empty space. Betrachtungen über den leeren Raum. Königsberg, 1758 De geometria acustica seu solius auditus ope exercenda. Königsberg, 1775 De geometria acustica nec non de ratione 0:0 seu basi calculi differentialis. Königsberg, 1787 Elementa theologiae popularis theoreticae. 1787 Attempt at a precise theory of the infinite. Versuch einer genauen Theorie des Unendlichen. Königsberg, 1788 Rudements of Pure Mathematics. Anfangsgründe der reinen Mathesis. Königsberg. 1790 Elements of Practical Theology. Elementa theologiae practicae. 1791 Defense of critical letters to Mr Emanuel Kant through his critique of pure reason, primarily against the Bornischen attacks. Vertheidigung der kritischen Briefe an Herrn Emanuel Kant über seine Kritik der reinen Vernunft, vornehmlich gegen die Bornischen Angriffe. Göttingen, 1792 A Brief Concept of Mathematics. Kurzer Lehrbegriff der Mathematik. Königsberg, 1797, 1805, 1806 Bd. Kurzer Lehrbegriff der Arithmetik, Geometrie, Trigonometrie und Landmesskunst. Bd. Kurzer Lehrbegriff der mechanischen und optischen Wissenschaften. Popular Foundations of Astronomy. Bd. Populäre Anfangsgründe der Astronomie. Very light and short development of some of the most important mathematical theories. Sehr leichte und Kurze Entwickelung einiger der wichtigsten mathematischen Theorien. Königsberg, 1803 Foundations of pure mechanics, which are the foundations of pure natural science. Anfangsgründe der reinen Mechanik, die zugleich die Anfangsgründe der reinen Naturwissenschaft sind. Königsberg, 1804