HUMBOLDT, WILHELM von. - Statesman and thinker, b. at Potsdam on 22 June 1767, d. at Tegel on 8 April 1835. Devoting himself to study, he completed it with long journeys through Austria, France and Spain (1797-1801). Counsellor of embassy at the Holy See (1802), in 1809 he assumed the direction of the affairs of worship and education in Prussia. Ambassador at Vienna and London, minister of the corporations (1819), he aimed at the constitution of the German confederation.
In his principal political writings (cf. above all Ideen über Staatsverfassung, durch die neue französische Konstitution veranlasst, and Ideen zu einem Versuch, die Grenzen der Wirksamkeit des Staates zu bestimmen, both from 1792) he opposed the abstract concept of the State with the historical concept of the nation. The study of comparative anthropology (cf. the Plan einer vergleichenden Anthropologie of 1795), understood as research into the character of nations, represented for H. the premise for the understanding of the spirit of humanity. He also devoted himself to linguistic studies, maintaining that language is a spontaneous and continuous creation of the spirit. H. was averse to the interference of the State in the religious consciences of citizens.
Bibliography5 worksB. Gebhardt, W. v. H. als Staatsmann, 2nd ed., Stuttgart 1890; S. H. Kachler, W. v. H. und der Staat, Munich-Berlin 1926; E. Spranger, W. v.
BIBL.: B. Gebhardt, W. v. H. als Staatsmann, 2nd ed., Stuttgart 1890; S. H. Kachler, W. v. H. und der Staat, Munich-Berlin 1926; E. Spranger, W. v. H. und die Humanitätidee, ibid. 1928; R. Leroux, Guillaume de H. La formation de sa pensée jusqu'en 1794, Strasbourg 1932; G. Solari, Studi storici di filosofia del diritto, Turin 1949, pp. 315-42.
Cotta, Sergio. “Humboldt, wilhelm von.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, coll. 1504–1505. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/humboldt-wilhelm-von.
MLA
Cotta, Sergio. “Humboldt, wilhelm von.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, coll. 1504–1505. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/humboldt-wilhelm-von.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec6_humboldt_wilhelm_von,
author = {Cotta, Sergio},
title = {Humboldt, wilhelm von},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VI},
pages = {1504--1505},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/humboldt-wilhelm-von}
}
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