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Schmid, Carl Christian Erhard (* 1761.04.24 † 1812.04.10)
Schmid, Carl Christian Erhard (* 1761.04.24 † 1812.04.10)
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Schmid, Carl Christian Erhard (* 1761.04.24 † 1812.04.10)

Basic Overview Data

Born
1761.04.24, Heilsberg
Died
1812.04.10, Jena
Confession
Protestant, Lutheran
Institutional Affiliation
University of Jena,
University of Giessen
Keyword Filters
Kantianism, moral philosophy, protestant, theologian
VIAF:
Important Family Relations:
Father, Gottlieb Ludwig Schmid (1721 - 1796), school teacher and principal, pastor
Cousin, father in law, Johann Wilhelm Schmid (1744.08.29 - 1798.04.01), theologian, professor of theology at University of Jena(called “Moralschmid” by his contemporaries)
Uncle, Achazius Ludwig Karl Schmid (1725.04.09 - 1784.07.06), jurist, professor of jurisprudence at University of Jena, councillor, chancellor
Wife, Bernhardine Sophie Schmid, (married 1796.03)
Son, Johann Heinrich Theodor Schmid (1799 - 1836), professor of philosophy at University of Heidelberg
Son, Reinhold Schmid (1800 - 1873), lawyer and professor of jurisprudence at University of Bern
Canonical URL:

Biography:

Schmid was born in 1761 in Heilsberg (Saxe-Weimar) into a family of church and state servants. After receiving an extensive intellectual education at home, Schmid studied theology at the University of Jena from 1778 to 1780, also attending lectures on philosophy and a wide range of other subjects. In 1780 Schmid took his theological exam at the Consistory in Weimar; one of his examiners was Johann Gottfried Herder who urged Schmid to pursue an academic career. In 1781, Schmid was hired by Baron von Hardenberg as private tutor to his son Friedrich (Novalis) during travels in the region of Brunswick. In 1782–84 Schmid had another appointment as private tutor, but left this position to return to the university in Jena. In summer 1785 he began to lecture on Kant’s critical philosophy, which he had begun to study in 1782. In 1787, Schmid was appointed vicar in his father’s parish in Wenigenjena; there Schmid on 22 February 1790 performed the wedding ceremony for Friedrich Schiller, with whom he had become friends in 1789, and Charlotte von Lengefeld.

In autumn 1791 Schmid left Jena to assume the chair of logic and metaphysics at the University of Gießen. In 1792, Schmid anonymously published two notorious sceptical treatises, Johann Joachim Müller’s Tractatus de tribus impostoribus and Theodor Ludwig Lau’s Meditationes philosophicae de Deo, mundo, homine. Having been found out by the authorities, Schmid in April 1793 was forbidden to preach and teach publicly and was suspended without pay for three months (cf. Haug 1995 for a detailed account of the scandal).

In the spring of 1793, Schmid left Gießen to return to Jena where he was appointed diaconus and in autumn he became professor of philosophy. In 1793–96 Schmid was involved in a fierce philosophical quarrel with fellow Jena professor and rising star Johann Gottlieb Fichte which culminated in Fichte publishing an “act of annihilation”. Originating in the controversy over Schmid’s concept of freedom, his so-called “intelligible fatalism”, the conflict concerned the very foundations of philosophy. Fichte and Schmid were also on opposing sides in the disputes among early Kantians about the foundation of natural law, its relation to morality and the justification of coercion (cf. van Zantwijk 2003; Kersting 1984, 50–69). As a result of his quarrel with Fichte, Schmid faced dwindling numbers of students and colleagues distancing themselves from him. This changed after Fichte had to leave Jena in 1799 following the atheism dispute (on the Schmid-Fichte controversy, see Graf 1995, 361–373; Frank 1997, 532–568). In 1798 Schmid was appointed professor of theology at Jena; in 1800 he was elected rector of the university, holding the office until mid-1801, and again in 1809.

With his teaching and publications – especially Kritik der reinen Vernunft im Grundrisse, Wörterbuch zum leichtern Gebrauch der Kantischen Schriften and Versuch einer Moralphilosophie – Schmid played an eminent role in the propagation of Kantianism in German academia in the 1780s and 1790s and was influential in the debates that led to the emergence of German Idealism. Schmid also published on empirical sciences and questions of methodology and in particular contributed to the establishment of psychology as an empirical discipline.

Comment on main natural law works:

Schmid presents his system of natural law in Grundriß des Naturrechts, a concise textbook published in 1795, but also in his main work on moral philosophy, Versuch einer Moralphilosophie, which first appeared in 1790 to critical acclaim as it presented the first full-fledged system of moral philosophy based on Kantian principles. Questions of legal philosophy are discussed extensively in the elaboration of duties of justice towards others (1790, §§ 533–596). Schmid also touches on these topics in a shorter textbook on morals, Grundriß der Moralphilosophie (1793; 1800).

In Grundriß des Naturrechts the primary division of natural law is that between “pure” and “applied” natural law. “Pure natural law” comprises an analytical and a synthetic part. The first provides an analysis of the general concept of right (“Recht”) on the one hand – which proceeds according to a (slightly modified) Kantian table of categories with the headings of quantity, quality, reality, and modality – and of related concept, such as imputation, punishment etc. The synthetic part of pure natural law provides a real definition of right by developing the fundamental synthetic principle of natural law. “Applied natural law” then applies the idea and principle of right to nature and the conditions of human beings. In his division of applied natural law Schmid follows the traditional distinction between “absolute” (§§ 177–224) and “hypothetical” natural law (§§ 225–281), the first of which expounds the original, or innate, rights of human beings, while the latter is concerned with the possible ways of acquiring rights. Hypothetical natural law, in turn, has a general (§§ 226–256) and a particular part (§§ 257–281). The general part deals with the original appropriation of property (§§ 228–235) and the transfer of rights via contracts (§§ 238–256). Particular hypothetical natural law comprises the law of societies, particularly marriage (§§ 261–263), church (§§ 264–270), and the state (§§ 271–281).

Comment on profile’s conception of natural law:

Schmid derives the concept of right “Recht” and the principles of natural law from the moral law. The basis of natural law cannot be found in ‘material’ principles, such as eudaimonism or perfectionism, since these do not hold categorically and universally for all rational beings. Only a formal practical principle can ground natural law: the practical law of pure reason, which is the moral law. The moral law requires us to act according to rules that can hold as universal law for every free rational being. It hence forbids any use of freedom that, if universalized, would destroy itself. Natural law applies this principle to the external use of freedom in relation to others and connects it with the idea of coercion. Coercion is justified insofar as it counteracts actions that conflict with the freedom of others. An agent is permitted to resist (coerce) others whenever they hinder her in the morally, and thus juridically, permitted use of her freedom. Every rational being has three universal original rights, “allgemeine Urrechte”: personal freedom, the right to possess things, and personal equality, on which all other rights, be it innate human rights or more particular acquired rights, are based. The purpose of the state is to secure these rights by force. The state originates in the civil contract, which is in part a pact of union and in part a pact of subjection.

Academic Data

Studies

1778 - 1780, Philosophy and theology, University of Jena[Philosophy: Johann August Heinrich Ulrich. Theology: Ernst Jakob Danovius and Johann Jakob Griesbach]

Degrees

1784.10.11, Magister Philosophiae, University of Jena
1800.02.22, Doctor of theology, University of Jena
1808.12.12, Doctor honoris causae of medicine, University of Marburg

Travels

1781 (Braunswick area, travels with Baron Heinrich von Hardenberg and his son Friedrich (Novalis))
1791.09.16 - 1791.09.xx, Germany (Erfurt 1791.09.17 - 1791.09.18, Gotha 1791.09.18 - , Göttingen 1791.09.20 - , Kassel 1791.09.21 - , Marburg - , Gießen - ) (Journey to Gießen, accompanied by Karl Wilhelm Justi, Friedrich Engelschall, Friedrich Creuzer, Leonard Creuzer)

Teaching

1789, Summer semester: "Philosophical morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1789/1790, Winter semester: "Morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1790, Summer semester: "Morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1790/1791, Winter semester: "Morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1791, Summer semester: "Morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1792, Summer semester: "Philosophical morals", University of Giessen, Faculty of Philosophy
1793, Summer semester: "Natural law", University of Giessen, Faculty of Philosophy (The lecture course was only announced. Schmid left Giessen in early spring)
1793/1794, Winter semester: "Philosophical morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1794, Summer semester: "Natural law", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1794/1795, Winter semester: "Natural law, philosophical morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1795, Summer semester: "Natural law", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1795/1796, Winter semester: "Morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1796, Summer semester: "Natural law, morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1796/1797, Winter semester: "Natural law, morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1797/1798, Winter semester: "Natural law", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1798, Summer semester: "Natural law and law of nations, moral philosophy", University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1801, Summer semester: "Moral philosophy", University of Jena, Faculty of Theology
1802/1803, Winter semester: "Morals", University of Jena, Faculty of Theology

Professional Data

Career

1781 - 1781, Hofmeister (Private teacher), House of Baron von Hardenberg (tutor of Frederick of Hardenberg (Novalis), during his travels)
1782 - 1784, Hofmeister (Private teacher), House of councillor Pensel
1784 - 1791, Adjunctus, University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1787 - 1791, Vicar, Local church in Wenigenjena
1791.09.28 - 1793.05.01, Professor of logic and metaphysics, University of Gießen, Faculty of Philosophy
1793.04.09 - 1800, Diaconus, Municipal church and garrison in Jena
1793.09 - 1812, Professor of philosophy, University of Jena, Faculty of Philosophy
1798 - 1812, Professor of theology, University of Jena, Faculty of Theology
1800 (Winter) - 1801 (Summer), Rector, University of Jena
1809 (Winter), Rector, University of Jena

Titles, Memberships and Other Relevant Roles

1791.11.06, Ordinary member, Corresponding Literary Society (academy), Mainz
1793.07.14, Honorary member, Naturforschende Gesellschaft (Society of Natural Science), Jena
1797.01.02, Member, Akademie der nützlichen Wissenschaften (Academy of Useful Sciences), Erfurt
1800.11.06, Honorary member, Societät für die gesammte Mineralogie (Society of Minerology), Jena
1804.05.14, Church councillor, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
1805.11.22, Member, Botanic Society, Altenburg
1787.03 - 1788.08, Novice, member, Order of the Illuminati, Jena (Illuminati name: Sextus Empiricus)

Printed Sources

Books:

Wörterbuch zum leichtern Gebrauch der Kantischen Schriften (Jena: Cröker, 1786) [part of Kritik der reinen Vernunft im Grundrisse]: Digital version
     - Edition 1788: Digital version
     - Edition 1793: Digital version
     - Edition 1798: Digital version
     - Reprint: (ed.) Norbert Hinske (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976).

Versuch einer Moralphilosophie (Jena: Cröker, 1790): Digital version
     - Edition 1792: Digital version
     - Edition 1795: Digital version
     - Edition 1802:
          - Vol. 1: Digital version
               - Reprint (Brussels: Culture et Civilisation, 1981 [=Aetas Kantiana, 235,1]).
          - Vol. 2: Digital version
               - Reprint (Brussels: Culture et Civilisation, 1981 [=Aetas Kantiana, 235,2]): Digital version

Grundriß der Moralphilosophie für Vorlesungen (Jena: Cröker, 1793): Digital version
     - Edition 1800: Digital version

Grundriß des Naturrechts. Für Vorlesungen (Jena and Leipzig: Gabler, 1795): Digital version
     - Unauthorized(?) reprint (Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1795): Digital version
     - Reprint (Brussels: Culture et Civilisation, 1973 [=Aetas Kantiana, 233]).

Adiaphora, philosophisch, theologisch und historisch untersucht / Adiaphora, wissenschaftlich und historisch untersucht (Leipzig: Vogel, 1809): Digital version

Allgemeine Encyklopädie und Methodologie der Wissenschaften (Jena: Akademische Buchhandlung 1810): Digital version


Periodica and Compiled Works:

Aufsätze philosophischen und theologischen Inhalts (Jena: Stahl, 1802)
     - vol. 1 [this is the only volume that was published]: Digital version

[Editor] Philosophisches Journal für Moralität, Religion und Menschenwohl, 4 vols. (Gießen 1793–1794).
     - vol. 1 [co-edited by Friedrich Wilhelm Daniel Snell]: Digital version
     - vol. 2 [co-edited by Friedrich Wilhelm Daniel Snell]: Digital version
     - vol. 3: Digital version
     - vol. 4: Digital version


Ego-Documents and Biographical Materials:

[Images of degree certificates and letters of appointment] Schröpfer, Horst: Carl Christian Erhard Schmid, "Der ‘bedeutendste Kantianer’ an der Universität Jena im 18. Jahrhundert", in: Der Aufbruch in den Kantianismus. Der Frühkantianismus an der Universität Jena von 1785–1800 und seine Vorgeschichte eds. Norbert Hinske, Erhard Lange, Horst Schröpfer: (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1995), p. 37–83, p. 57–72.

[Images and transcriptions of two lecture announcements] Hinske, Norbert: “Das erste Auftauchen der Kantischen Philosophie im Lehrangebot der Universität Jena”, in: Der Aufbruch in den Kantianismus. Der Frühkantianismus an der Universität Jena von 1785–1800 und seine Vorgeschichte eds. Norbert Hinske, Erhard Lange, Horst Schröpfer: (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1995), p. 1–14.

[Lecture catalogues of the University of Giessen] Academia Ludoviciana, Tabula recitationum, 1771-1800: Digital version

[Schmid on his acqaintance with the young Novalis] Schlichtegroll, Friedrich (ed.), Nekrolog der Teutschen für das neunzehnte Jahrhundert, vol. 4 (Gotha: Perthes, 1805), p. 243–245: Digital version
     - [Schmid’s text can also be found in Novalis: Schriften, vol. 4 (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer/Darmstadt: WBG, 1988), p. 567–568)

[Contains ancestral chart and reprints of letters] Koehler, Wendelin: Johannes Schmid’s Nachkommen. 400 Jahre Thüringer Familiengeschichte fürstliche Beamte und Gelehrte (Norderstedt: Books on Demand, 2013).

[Schmid’s letters to Kant] Kant’s gesammelte Schriften (Academy edition) (Berlin, 1900–).
     - 18 May 1786: vol. 10, p. 450: Digital version
     - 21 February 1789: vol. 11, p. 1–3: Digital version

[Schmid’s letter to Schiller, 1 July 1791] Schillers Werke. Nationalausgabe, vol. 34/I (Weimar: Böhlau, 1991), p. 72–73.

Manuscript Sources

Manuscripts:

ThULB Jena, signature: NL Carl Christian Erhard Schmid (part of the family estate Schmid-Burgk): Online catalogue record


Correspondence:

ThULB Jena, signature: NL Carl Christian Erhard Schmid (part of the family estate Schmid-Burgk): Online catalogue record

Individual letters are preserved in different libraries and archives in Germany: Online catalogue record


Ego-Documents and Biographical Materials:

ThULB Jena, signature: NL Carl Christian Erhard Schmid (part of the family estate Schmid-Burgk): Online catalogue record

Epistolary Connections:

1786.05.18, Immanuel Kant, Königsberg
Jakob Ludwig Heinrich, Halle

Direct Personal Connections:

1787, Carl Leonhard Reinhold, Jena
Gottlieb Hufeland, Jena
Mikkel Munthe Jensen, Last Update:  21.07.2022