Heumann distinguishes historia philosophica (written by historians) from historia philosophiae, written by philosophers and conceived as a new philosophical discipline like the soon-to-appear philosophy of history and esthetics, all modern disciplines formulated in the Age of Enlightenment. History of philosophy expresses judgments on philosophies of the past and compares philosophies and traditions, considering what is useful, true and virtuous in them for the present. Philosophers need philosophical history of philosophy in order to produce better philosophy more attuned to their own time. Heumann deals with method and ends of history of philosophy, with philosophical historiography and highlights the independence of philosophical thought from theology, religion and myth. Though somewhat ambiguously, he sees philosophy as a discipline also suited to women and wrote a first history of female philosophers. It was not by chance that this appeared in a periodical that ran for about fifteen years for a total of around 3000 pages; the new discipline was immediately seeking and found its readership.
University of Urbino, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-2512-4969
Chapter Title
Christoph August Heumann’s Acta philosophorum and the Rise of the History of Philosophy in the Age of Enlightenment
Authors
Roberto Bordoli
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0999-1.09
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
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