- Philosophical Reviews in German Territories (1668-1799)
- Edited by Pasquale Terraciano, Francesco Valerio Tommasi
Christian Wolff’s Reviews of His Own Books
- Matteo Favaretti Camposampiero
- © 2026 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0999-1.07
Although Christian Wolff was an exceptionally prolific book reviewer and self-reviewer, this part of his output is largely unexplored. This chapter investigates Wolff’s philosophical and mathematical self-reviews to argue that, in spite of their adherence to the source works and lack of self-criticism, they offer valuable insights into his thought. In particular, the chapter aims to show that Wolff’s self-reviews may help us understand his intentions and strategies especially in that they complement, emphasize, or reformulate the information contained in the respective source works. The longest section focuses on Wolff’s Latin reviews of his German works, with special attention to the Latin rendition of his German metaphysical terminology. The self-translations Wolff performs in these cases – I will argue – are often revealing of his deepest philosophical concerns. The term “perception” is a case in point.
- Keywords:
- Christian Wolff,
- self-reviews,
- translation,
- metaphysics,
- perception,
Matteo Favaretti Camposampiero
Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-7276-9244
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- Wallis, John. 1699. Operum mathematicorum volumen tertium. Oxford: Sheldonian Theatre.
- Wolff, Christian. 1707. “Solutio nonnullarum difficultatum circa mentem humanam obviarum, ubi simul agitur de origine notionum et facultate ratiocinandi.” Acta Eruditorum (November): 507–14 (repr. in Wolff 1755, Sect. I, 11–7).
- Wolff, Christian. 1708. “Leges experientiarum fundamentales.” Acta Eruditorum (April): 163–66 (repr. in Wolff 1755, Sect. I, 18–21).
- Wolff, Christian. 1709a. Aërometriae elementa, in quibus aliquot aëris vires ac proprietates juxta methodum geometrarum demonstrantur. Leipzig: Lankis (repr. in GW II 37).
- Wolff, Christian. 1709b. “[Review of] Aërometriae elementa […] Autore Christiano Wolfio […].” Acta Eruditorum (Januar): 24–31 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. I, 356–63).
- Wolff, Christian. 1710a. Anfangs-Gründe aller mathematischen Wissenschafften. 4 vols. Halle: Renger (repr. of the 1750–57 ed. in GW I 12–5).
- Wolff, Christian. 1710b. “[Review of] Anfangs-Gründe aller mathematischen Wissenschafften […] edita a Christiano Wolfio […].” Acta Eruditorum (November): 486–92 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. I, 497–503).
- Wolff, Christian. 1713a. “[Review of] Vernünfftige Gedancken von den Kräfften des menschlichen Verstandes […] Autore Christiano Wolfio […].” Acta Eruditorum (March): 133–37 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. II, 687–91).
- Wolff, Christian. 1713b. Vernünfftige Gedancken von den Kräfften des menschlichen Verstandes und ihrem richtigen Gebrauche in Erkäntnis der Wahrheit [= German Logic]. Halle: Renger.
- Wolff, Christian. 1717. Specimen physicae ad theologiam naturalem adplicatae, sistens notionem intellectus divini per opera naturae illustratam. Halle: Zahn.
- Wolff, Christian. 1718. Ratio praelectionum wolfianarum in mathesin et philosophiam universam. Halle: Renger (repr. of the 1735 ed. in GW II 36).
- Wolff, Christian. 1719. “[Review of] Ratio praelectionum wolfianarum in mathesin et philosophiam universam.” Acta Eruditorum (March): 118–26 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. III, 1039–47).
- Wolff, Christian. 1720a. “[Review of] Vernünfftige Gedancken von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen […] Autore Christiano Wolfio […].” Acta Eruditorum (August): 371–84 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. III, 1151–64).
- Wolff, Christian. 1720b. Vernünfftige Gedancken von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen, auch allen Dingen überhaupt [= German Metaphysics]. Halle: Renger (repr. of the 1751 ed. in GW I 2).
- Wolff, Christian. 1721. “[Review of] Vernünfftige Gedancken von der Menschen Thun und Lassen […] editae a Christiano Wolfio […].” Acta Eruditorum (Januar): 36–46 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. III, 1185–95).
- Wolff, Christian. 1722. “[Review of] Allerhand nützliche Versuche […] Autore Christiano Wolfio […] Tomus I.” Acta Eruditorum (Januar): 31–6 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. III, 1263–68).
- Wolff, Christian. 1723a. “[Review of] De differentia nexus rerum sapientis et fatalis necessitatis […] luculenta commentatio […] Autore Christiano Wolfio […]. Monitum ad commentationem istam […] Autore eodem […].” Acta Eruditorum (November): 510–18 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. III: 1414–22).
- Wolff, Christian. 1723b. “[Review of] Vernünfftige Gedancken von den Würckungen der Natur […] Autore Christiano Wolfio […].” Acta Eruditorum (October): 468–72 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. III, 1409–13).
- Wolff, Christian. 1724a. Anmerckungen über die vernünfftigen Gedancken von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen, auch allen Dingen überhaupt. Frankfurt: Andreä (repr. of the 1740 ed. in GW I 3).
- Wolff, Christian. 1724b. “[Review of] Anmerckungen über die vernünfftigen Gedancken von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen […] Autore Christiano Wolfio […].” Acta Eruditorum (July): 310–20 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. III, 1478–88).
- Wolff, Christian. 1728a. Philosophia rationalis sive Logica, methodo scientifica pertractata. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Renger (repr. of the 1740 ed. in GW II 1.1–1.3).
- Wolff, Christian. 1728b. “[Review of] Ludovici Philippi Thummigii […], Meletemata varii et rarioris argumenti in unum volumen collecta […].” Acta Eruditorum (March): 129–33 (repr. in Wolff 2001, 1780–84).
- Wolff, Christian. 1728c. “[Review of] Philosophia rationalis, sive logica, methodo scientifica pertractata […] Autore Christiano Wolfio […].” Acta Eruditorum (October): 455–68 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. IV, 1791–1804).
- Wolff, Christian. 1730a. Cogitationes rationales de viribus intellectus humani earumque usu legitimo in veritatis cognitione. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Renger (repr. of the 1740 ed. in GW II 2).
- Wolff, Christian. 1730b. Philosophia prima, sive ontologia, methodo scientifica pertractata. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Renger (repr. of the 1736 ed. in GW II 3).
- Wolff, Christian. 1730c. “[Review of] Hieronymi Rorarii, Quod animalia bruta saepe ratione utantur melius homine, libri duo: quos recensuit, Dissertatione de anima brutorum, annotationibusque auxit Georg. Heinr. Ribovius.” Acta Eruditorum (April): 173–77 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. IV, 1927–31).
- Wolff, Christian. 1730d. “[Review of] Philosophia prima, sive ontologia, methodo scientifica pertractata […] Autore Christiano Wolfio […].” Acta Eruditorum (February): 73–86 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. IV, 1903–16).
- Wolff, Christian. 1731a. Cosmologia generalis methodo scientifica pertractata. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Renger (repr. of the 1737 ed. in GW II 4).
- Wolff, Christian. 1731b. “[Review of] Jura de pacto hereditario renunciativo filiae nobilis a dissensu Doctorum liberata, et methodo demonstrativa in concordiam reducta a Johanne Ulrico Cramero […] cum Praefatione Christiani Wolfii […].” Acta Eruditorum (September): 411–15 (repr. in Wolff 2001, vol. IV, 2037–41).
- Wolff, Christian. 1732. Psychologia empirica methodo scientifica pertractata. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Renger (repr. of the 1738 ed. in GW II 5).
- Wolff, Christian. 1734. Psychologia rationalis methodo scientifica pertractata. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Renger (repr. of the 1740 ed. in GW II 6).
- Wolff, Christian. 1755. Meletemata mathematico-philosophica. Halle: Renger (repr. in GW II 35).
- Wolff, Christian. 2001. Sämtliche Rezensionen in den Acta Eruditorum (1705–1731), hrsg. von H. A. Laeven und L. J. M. Laeven-Aretz, 5 vols. Hildesheim: Olms (GW II 38.1–38.5).
Chapter Information
Chapter Title
Christian Wolff’s Reviews of His Own Books
Authors
Matteo Favaretti Camposampiero
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0999-1.07
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
Philosophical Reviews in German Territories (1668-1799)
Book Subtitle
Volume 2
Editors
Pasquale Terraciano, Francesco Valerio Tommasi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
282
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0999-1
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0998-4
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0999-1
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-1060-7
Series Title
Knowledge and its Histories
Series ISSN
3035-5974
Series E-ISSN
3035-5923