He entered the Society in 1747 and taught philosophy at the University of Vienna from 1763 to 1773, when the suppression of the Society of Jesus interrupted his work. He then retired to Klagenfurt, where he divided his time between study and preaching.
His *Institutiones logicae et metaphysicae* (5 vols., Vienna 1769–91) met with great success and went through many editions, owing to the excellence of its style, order, and clarity. Likewise, his *Die Philosophie der Religion* (7 vols., Augsburg 1775–81), especially in its supplement *Zugaben zur Philosophie der Religion* (5 vols., Vienna 1785–88), in which he incisively and rigorously refutes the objections and complaints of the leading unbelievers of his time—Spinoza, Hobbes, Bayle, Tindal, Rousseau, Voltaire—enjoyed wide approval. Also noteworthy are *Der Glaube des Christen. Wie er sein soll* (Augsburg 1792) and the collection of sermons published as *Die Moral des Christen. Wie sie sein soll* (4 vols., ibid. 1793–96).
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