Friedrich Ueberweg


Friedrich Ueberweg, was a German philosopher and historian of philosophy.

Biography

Friedrich Ueberweg was born in Leichlingen, Rhineland. Ostpreussen. His parents were Johann Gottlob Friedrich Ueberweg, who was pastor of a Lutheran church in Leichlingen , and Helene Boeddinghaus. Helene was a daughter of Karl Theodor Boeddinghaus, who was a Lutheran pastor in the neighboring town of Ronsdorf.
Educated at the University of Göttingen and the Humboldt University of Berlin, Friedrich qualified at the University of Bonn as Privatdozent in philosophy. In 1862 he was called to the University of Königsberg as extraordinary professor, and in 1867 he was promoted to the grade of professor ordinarius. He married Anna Henriette Luise Panzenhagen on September 1, 1863, in Seebad Pillau, Fischhausen, Ostpreussen. Ueberweg died in Königsberg in 1871.

Philosophy

At first he followed Friedrich Eduard Beneke's empiricism, and strongly opposed the subjectivistic tendency of the Kantian system, maintaining in particular the objectivity of space and time, which involved him in a somewhat violent controversy. His own mode of thought he preferred later to describe as an ideal realism, which refused to reduce reality to thought, but asserted a parallelism between the forms of existence and the forms of knowledge. Beneke and Friedrich Schleiermacher exercised most influence upon the development of his thought.

Selected works

His compendious Sketch of the History of Philosophy is remarkable for its fullness of information, conciseness, accuracy and impartiality.