Karl (Carl) Christian Friedrich Krause (; 6 May 1781 – 27 September 1832) was a German philosopher whose doctrines became known as Krausism. Krausism, when considered in its totality as a complete, stand-alone philosophical system, had only a small following in Germany, France, and Belgium, in contradistinction to certain other philosophical systems (such as Hegelianism) that had a much larger following in Europe at that time. However, Krausism became very popular and influential in Restoration Spain not as a complete, comprehensive philosophical system per se, but as a broad cultural movement. In Spain, Krausism was known as "Krausismo", and Krausists were known as "Krausistas". Outside of Spain, the Spanish Krausist cultural movement was referred to as Spanish Krausism.
Early life
Krause was born in Eisenberg (in present-day Thuringia). His parents were Johann Friedrich Gotthard Krause (1 January 1747 – 17 February 1825) and Christiana Friederica Böhme (1755 – 21 December 1784). Karl's father Johann was a teacher at the lyceum in Eisenberg, and in 1795 became a Lutheran pastor and hymn collector in Nobitz.
Studies at the University of Jena, 1797–1802
Educated at first in Eisenberg, in 1797 Karl enrolled in the nearby University of Jena, where he studied philosophy under Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Christian Gottfried Schütz, Heinrich Karl Abraham Eichstädt,Heinrich Karl (Carl) Abraham Eichstӓdt (8 August 1772 - 4 March 1848) - German classical philologist and philosopher. and August Wilhelm von Schlegel. He also attended lectures by theologians Johann Jakob Griesbach, Heinrich Eberhard Gottlob Paulus, Karl David Ilgen, and Johann Adolf Jacobi,Johann Adolf (Adolph) Jacobi (9 August 1769 - 12 August 1847) - German Lutheran evangelical theologian. and lectures by professors in various departments of science and mathematics, including A. J. G. K. Batsch,August Johann Georg Karl (Carl) Batsch (28 October 1761 - 29 September 1802) - German naturalist, mycologist, and physician. F. F. Bretschneider,Friedrich Ferdinand Bretschneider (20 October 1758 - 27 October 1802) - In 1801 he became an associate professor of Medicine at the University of Jena, and sub-director of the older clinical institute there named the Herzoglich-klinische Institut (Ducal Clinical Institute), aka the Medico-chirurgische Krankenanstalt (Medical-Surgical Hospital/Clinic). J. F. A. Göttling,Johann Friedrich August Gӧttling (5 June 1753 - 1 September 1809) - An associate professor of Chemistry and Technology at the University of Jena. J. C. F. Graumüller,Johann Christian Friedrich Graumüller (1770 - 5 September 1824) - German botanist and pharmacist. He was a Privatdozent (unsalaried lecturer) on botany at the University of Jena. His publications provided foundational knowledge for medical students, pharmacists, and veterinarians. J. G. Lenz,Johann Georg Lenz (2 April 1748 - 28 February 1832) - A pioneering German mineralogist, mining engineer, professor of Mineralogy at the University of Jena, and Bergrat (Mining Counselor) for the city of Jena. J. F. C. [von] Loder,Justus Ferdinand Christian [von] Loder (12 March 1753 - 16 April 1832) - German anatomist, physiologist, obstetrician, and surgeon. He was professor of Surgery and Anatomy at the University of Jena. K. D. M. Stahl,Konrad Dietrich Martin Stahl (30 March 1771 - 12 February 1833) - German mathematician - a specialist in combinatorics - at the University of Jena, who wrote foundational mathematical texts. His work was deeply tied to the Hindenburg Combinatory School of thought, named after German mathematician and physicist Carl (Karl) Friedrich [von] Hindenburg (13 July 1741 - 17 March 1808), who was extraordinary professor of Philosophy, and also professor of Physics, at the University of Leipzig. Stahl's mathematical texts were heavily utilized by some of the German idealist philosophers, including by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. L. J. D. Suckow,Lorenz Johann Daniel Suckow (19 February 1722 - 16 August 1801) - Prominent German mathematician, physicist, botanist, and natural scientist. He was a professor of Mathematics, Physics, and Architecture at the University of Jena, and he held the esteemed position of Rector of the University of Jena several times (in 1762, 1772, and 1780). and J. H. Voigt.Johann Heinrich Voigt (27 June 1751 - 6 September 1823) - German mathematician, astronomer and physicist who was professor of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Jena. Krause received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Jena on 6 October 1801, and became a Privatdozent (unsalaried lecturer) in 1802.
Marriage and children
With characteristic imprudence, on 19 July 1802 Krause married Sophie Amalie Concordia Fuchs (born 1780), without dowry. Amalie was a daughter of Augustin Christian Fuchs (1748-1812) and Christiane Friederike Herrmann. Karl and Amalie had 14 children in all, 12 of whom survived their parents. The children included: Sophie (Sophia) Christiane Friederike KrauseOn 4 April 1825 Sophie (Sophia) Christiane Friederike Krause married Johann Heinrich Plath (25 August 1802 - 16 November 1874), who became a famous German Sinologist. (1803 – December 1873), Karl Erasmus Friedrich Krause (20 September 1805 – 29 November 1861), August Julius Gotthard Krause (b. 1809), Maria Sidonia (Sidonie) KrauseOn 19 October 1841 Maria Sidonia (Sidonie) Krause married Hermann Karl von Leonhardi (1809-1875), a German philosopher and botanist who became one of Karl C. F. Krause's primary disciples. Sidonie von Leonhardi's date of death (26 August 1875) is given in an article on Hermann Karl von Leonhardi by Dr. Paul Hohlfeld which appeared in Österreichischer Schulbote (Austrian School Messenger), vol. 25 (1875), p. 518. (14 August 1810 – 26 August 1875), Otto Krause (1812-1872), Henriette Auguste Karoline Emma Krause (b. 1814), Heinrich Karl Gottlieb Krause (b. 1817), Wilhelm August Ernst Heinrich Krause, Friedrich, Ludwig, Hugo, and Maria Krause (b. 1823).
Teacher In 1804, a lack of pupils compelled Krause to move to Rudolstadt, and later to Dresden, where he gave private lessons in music. In Dresden, he privately taught Indian philosophy to Arthur Schopenhauer.
In 1805, his ideal of a universal world-society led him to join the Freemasons, whose principles seemed to tend in the direction he desired. In Dresden, he published two books on Freemasonry, Höhere Vergeistigung der echt überlieferten Grundsymbole der Freimaurerei: in zwölf Logenvorträgen (1811) and Die drei ältesten Kunsterkunden der Freimaurerbrüderschaft (1819), but his opinions attracted opposition from the Masons. From 1809, Krause held a teaching position the Ingenieur-Akademie Dresden.
Krause lived for a time (1813–1815) in Berlin and became a Privatdozent there, but was unable to obtain a professorship at the University of Berlin. From 1823 to 1830, he was Privatdozent at the University of Göttingen.
In 1831, he moved to Munich, where he died of apoplexy at the very moment when the influence of Franz von Baader had at last obtained a position for him. Krause is buried in the Alter Südfriedhof in Munich, Germany.
Identitätsphilosophie, panentheism, and other aspects of Krausism
Krause's philosophy, as a whole, is an example of what historians of philosophy refer to as (philosophy of identity).Some of Schelling's early philosophical works are often cited as being groundbreaking works in the field of Identitätsphilosophie. These works include Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie (1799), System der transcendentalen Idealismus (1800), and System der gesammten Philosophie und der Naturphilosophie insbesondere (1804). An Identitätsphilosophie is a philosophical system that posits the fundamental identity of spirit and nature. In Krause's philosophical system, the parts of the system which, technically, constitute its "panentheism", are only parts of a much broader whole. Therefore, although Krause's philosophy is accurately described as being "panentheistic", Krausism as a whole is better categorized as an Identitätsphilosophie which features panentheism as one of its primary fundamental components.
Krause endeavoured to reconcile the ideas of a God known by faith or conscience and the world as known to sense. According to Krause, God — intuitively known by conscience — is not a personality (which implies limitations), but an all-inclusive essence (Wesen), which contains the universe within itself. Krause used the term panentheism (Panentheismus in German) in an attempt to accurately describe and encapsulate — in a single technical term — diverse aspects of his philosophical system which were cosmo-theological (simultaneously cosmological and theological) in nature. When considered from a theological perspective, panentheism can be viewed, broadly, as a synthesis of various elements derived from both monotheism and pantheism.
Etymology of "panentheism" Historians of philosophy usually give Krause sole credit for coining the term "panentheism" in 1828. However, according to evidence provided by Philip Clayton,Philip Clayton, "Panentheisms East and West", Sophia 49 (2) (June 2010), p. 183. the German idealist philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling had already used this term (albeit in a slightly different form — in the form of the phrase "pan + en + theism"), and also had discussed numerous concepts and issues related to it, in his Philosophische Untersuchungen über das Wesen der menschlichen Freiheit und die damit zusammenhängenden Gegenstände (Philosophical Investigations into the Essence of Human Freedom and Matters Connected Therewith, 1809).This work is also referred to, more briefly, as Freiheitsschrift (Freedom Text, Freedom Essay, Essay on Freedom, or Of Human Freedom).
Additionally, Krause and Schelling scholars now recognize that Krause's philosophy, as a whole, reflects, and partially incorporates, many of the themes, concepts and insights present in Schelling's Naturphilosophie (Philosophy of Nature), which itself is a form of panentheism. It now appears that Schelling's work may have provided much more of the framework of Krausean panentheism than historians of philosophy in the past had realized. Based on Clayton's evidence, it is quite possible that Krause, who was well-acquainted with Schelling and his works, adopted at least some of the initial basic concepts of his own panentheistic system from various works of Schelling (especially from Schelling's Philosophical Investigations into the Essence of Human Freedom) and then gradually developed those basic concepts into his own very elaborate version of panentheism.
Looking forward, it might be more accurate for historians of philosophy to now say that Schelling in 1809 provided not only the terminological framework of Krausean panentheism but also some of the basic concepts (at least), of what was to become Krausean panentheism. Krause not only adopted and greatly expanded upon those concepts and insights from Schelling but also adopted Schelling's phrase "pan + en + theism". In 1828, he merely reduced Schelling's phrase into a more concise and compact form (as the single term "panentheism") in an attempt to succinctly and adequately describe, in a single term, the cosmotheological aspects of his own philosophical system.