Karl Ludwig Michelet

Karl Ludwig Michelet (4 December 1801 – 15 December 1893) was a German philosopher. He was born and died in Berlin.

Biography Michelet studied at the grammar school and at Humboldt University in his native town, took his degree as doctor of philosophy in 1824, and became professor in 1829, a post which he retained till his death.

Work Educated in the doctrine of Hegel, he remained faithful to his early teaching and spent his life defending and continuing the Hegelian tradition. His first notable work was the System der philosophischen Moral (Berlin, 1828), which develops the principles contained in his inaugural dissertation. In Anthropologie und Psychologie (1840), Michelet diverges in many respects from Hegelian principles.

Other works include: Eine italienische Reise in Briefen (Berlin, 1856), Die Geschichte der Menschheit in ihrem Entwickelungsgange seit dem Jahre 1775 bis auf die neuesten Zeiten (2 vols., 1859–60), Naturrecht, oder Rechtsphilosophie als die praktische Philosophie (3 vols., 1866), Esquisse de logique (Paris, 1856), Hegel der unwiderlegte Weltphilosoph (1870), Wahrheit aus meinem Leben (1886).

In 1845 Michelet founded the Berlin Philosophical Society, which has continuously represented the Hegelianism of Germany. He was the first editor of Der Gedanke (1860), the official organ of the society.