Johann Georg Hamann

German philosopher (1730-1788)

was a German Lutheran philosopher from Kรถnigsberg, born on 27 August 1730 and died on 21 June 1788, known as "the Wizard of the North" and a leading figure in post-Kantian philosophy, the Counter-Enlightenment, and the Sturm und Drang movement. He was a key influence on thinkers such as J. G. Herder, Goethe, Kierkegaard, Hegel, and Jacobi, and is recognized for his profound impact on the philosophy of language, particularly through his assertion that "reason is language" (Vernunft ist Sprache). Hamann's philosophical shift occurred after a mystical experience in London in 1758, which led him to reorient his thought around Christian faith, rejecting Enlightenment rationalism in favor of a philosophy grounded in intuition, faith, and lived experience. His works, including Sokratische Denkwรผrdigkeiten and Aesthetica in nuce, employed irony and indirect discourse to challenge rationalist epistemology and emphasize the role of genius, aesthetic experience, and the Bible as sources of truth.

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Factsheet
Born (1730-08-27)27 August 1730
Kรถnigsberg, Kingdom of Prussia
Died 21 June 1788(1788-06-21) (aged 57)
Mรผnster, Prince-Bishopric of Mรผnster, Holy Roman Empire
Education
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Wikipedia
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Johann Georg Hamann - Wikipedia
25 September 2025 - Johann Georg Hamann (/หˆhษ‘หmษ‘หn/; German: [หˆhaหman]; 27 August 1730 โ€“ 21 June 1788) was a German Lutheran philosopher from Kรถnigsberg known as "the Wizard of the North" who was one of the leading figures of post-Kantian philosophy. His work was used by his student J.
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Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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Johann Georg Hamann (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
29 June 2002 - Johann Georg Hamann (1730โ€“1788) lived and worked in Prussia, in the context of the late German Enlightenment. Although he remained outside โ€˜professionalโ€™ philosophical circles, in that he never held a University post, he was respected in his time for his scholarship and breadth of learning.
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Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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Hamann, Johann Georg | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Like Kant, Hamann attended the University of Kรถnigsberg, and in his early life was a devoted partisan of the Enlightenment, the philosophical and literary movement that emphasized the clearing away of outdated prejudice and the application of scientific reason to every area of human life.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
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Johann Georg Hamann | Aesthetic Theology, Pragmatism & Mysticism | Britannica
20 July 1998 - Johann Georg Hamann (born Aug. 27, 1730, Kรถnigsberg, Prussia [now Kaliningrad, Russia]โ€”died June 21, 1788, Mรผnster, Westphalia [Germany]) was a German Protestant thinker, fideist, and friend of the philosopher Immanuel Kant.
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Encyclopedia.com
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Hamann, Johann Georg (1730โ€“1788) | Encyclopedia.com
Johann Georg Hamann, the German Protestant thinker and critic of the Enlightenment, was born in Kรถnigsberg. In no sense a professional philosopher, and largely self-educated, he made his living as a secretary-translator and later as a government warehouse manager in Kรถnigsberg.
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Goodreads
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Johann Georg Hamann (Author of Writings on Philosophy and Language)
He was known by the epithet Magus ... was an important German philosopher, a main proponent of the Sturm und Drang movement, and associated by historian of ideas Isaiah Berlin with the Counter-Enlightenment....
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Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
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Writings on Philosophy and Language | Reviews | Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews | University of Notre Dame
Although little known among English-speaking philosophers, the 18th-century German Johann Georg Hamann can be credited with originating a number of the most important ideas in the Continental tradition of philosophy of the last two centuries.
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New World Encyclopedia
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Johann Georg Hamann - New World Encyclopedia
Johann Georg Hamann (August 27, 1730 โ€“ June 21, 1788), also known by the epithet Magus of the North, was a philosopher of the German Enlightenment. He was a fideist, Pietist, and a friend and intellectual opponent of the philosopher Immanuel Kant.
Find elsewhere
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Madamegilflurt
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Catherine Curzon: Johann Hamann: The Magus of the North
There are a fair few philosophers of one stripe or another around Covent Garden but they're somewhat dependent on the gin bottle for their thoughts so I shan't be wasting any ink on them! Born the son of a barber-surgeon and a midwife, Johann Hamann initially studied theology and philosophy ...
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First Things
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Johann Georg Hamann, Radical Enlightener - First Things
28 March 2025 - In 1758 a young, dissolute Prussian named Johann Georg Hamann found himself in a deep despair, wandering lost in the world, searching intensely for the โ€œLight of life.โ€ He found itโ€or, rather, it found himโ€in the wonder of the Word made ...
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Encyclopedia.com
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Johann Georg Hamann | Encyclopedia.com
German philosopher of faith and of feeling; b. Kรถnigsberg, Aug. 27, 1730; d. Mรผnster in Westphalia, June 21, 1788. Known as the "wise man (Magus) of the North," he was associated with J. G. herder and F. H. jacobi and was a precursor of S. A. kierkegaard. Though a friend of I. kant, Hamann ...
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Cambridge Core
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Hamann: Writings on Philosophy and Language
Johann Georg Hamann (1730โ€“88) is a major figure not only in German philosophy but also in literature and religious history. In his own time he wrote penetrating criticisms of Herder, Kant, Mendelssohn, and other Enlightenment thinkers; after ...
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Amazon
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Amazon.com: Johann Georg Hamann: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle
Johann Georg Hamann (1730โ€“88) is a major figure not only in German philosophy but also in literature and religious history. In his own time he wrote penetrating criticisms of Herder, Kant, Mendelssohn, and other Enlightenment thinkers; after ...
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Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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Johann Georg Hamann (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2010 Edition)
Johann Georg Hamann was born in Kรถnigsberg in 1730, the son of a midwife and a barber-surgeon. He began study in philosophy and theology at the age of 16, changed to law but mainly read literature, philology, and rhetoric, but also mathematics and science. He left university without completing ...
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Amazon
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Amazon.com: Hamann: Writings on Philosophy and Language (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy): 9780521520676: Haynes, Kenneth: Books
Johann Georg Hamann (1730โ€“88) is a major figure not only in German philosophy but also in literature and religious history. In his own time he wrote penetrating criticisms of Herder, Kant, Mendelssohn, and other Enlightenment thinkers; after ...
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PhilPapers
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Johann Georg Hamann, Writings on philosophy and language - PhilPapers
Johann Georg Hamann (1730-1788) is a major figure not only in German philosophy but also in literature and religious history. In his own time he wrote penetrating criticisms of Herder, Kant, ...
Author   Johann Georg Hamann
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UTP Publishing
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Johann Georg Hamann and the Enlightenment Project - University of Toronto Press
Johann Georg Hamann (1730-1788) was a German philosopher who offered in his writings a radical critique of the Enlightenmentโ€™s reverence for reason. A pivotal figure in the Sturm und Drang movement, his thought influenced such writers as Johann ...
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Plough
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The Conversion of Johann Georg Hamann by Nicholas Allmaier
Hamann writes: โ€œOur religion is arranged so completely to meet our needs, weaknesses, and deficiencies that these are all transformed into blessings and things of beauty โ€“ all against our will as unconverted people โ€“ they are all transformed.โ€ ... Nicholas Allmaier is a PhD candidate in philosophy at Tulane University in New Orleans.
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Springer
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Johann Georg Hamann Philosophy and Faith | SpringerLink
THE PROBLEM OF THE INTERPRETATION OF HAMANN Johann Georg Hamann is an intriguing but poorly known figure in the contemporary intellectual world. Yet this is the man whom Kierkegaard saluted as "Emperor!", whose writings were to have been arranged ...
Author   W. M. Alexander