Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744 – 1803) was a crucial thinker in the development of German Romanticism, although he did not experience this movement in its fullness (Montagud Rubio, 2021). His philosophy marked the first steps toward Sturm und Drang, a movement that would later become the foundation of Romanticism. Unlike the universal ideals of the Enlightenment, Herder defended diversity among peoples and argued that each nation possessed a unique spirit, known as Volkgeist. According to Montagud Rubio (2021), this idea highlighted the distinctive character of each culture and underscored the importance of its historical roots and traditions.
One of the central characteristics of his thought was his positive appraisal of the Middle Ages, which he saw as the foundational stage of European nations (Montagud Rubio, 2021). This approach led him to exalt both individualism and national sentiment—ideas that would resonate deeply in later Romanticism. Moreover, in line with Montagud Rubio (2021), Herder came into contact with influential figures of his time, such as Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804) and Denis Diderot, and exerted a notable influence on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the leading representatives of the Romantic movement.
Biography
Johann Gottfried von Herder was born on August 25, 1744, in Mohrungen, a locality in East Prussia that today belongs to Poland (Montagud Rubio, 2021). His parents, Gottfried Herder and Anna Elizabeth Peltz, provided their six children with a religious education in an environment of limited resources. During his childhood, Johann developed his initial knowledge with the help of his father's Bible and the lessons his parents could offer. Over time, in accordance with Montagud Rubio (2021), he managed to attend the local school thanks to various supports that allowed him to continue his academic training.
At the age of 16, he obtained accommodation in the home of the vicar Sebastian Trescho, where he worked as a copyist (Montagud Rubio, 2021). This opportunity opened the doors to an extensive library, which he used to teach himself about theology and culture. Although he initially planned to study medicine with the financial support of the surgeon J.C. Schwarz-Erla, he soon discovered that his true vocation lay in theology. In 1762, at the age of 17, he entered the University of Königsberg, where he became a student of Immanuel Kant, a central figure of critical philosophy. Montagud Rubio (2021) notes that, although he would later disagree with some aspects of Kantian thought, Herder was also influenced by Johann Georg Hamann, with whom he shared his rejection of Enlightenment rationalism.
In 1764, he moved to Riga, where he was ordained as a Protestant pastor and worked as a teacher and preacher (Montagud Rubio, 2021). During this period, he published his first works, among them “Fragmente Über die Neuere Deutsche Literatur” (“Fragments Concerning German Literature”). At the age of 20, he embarked on a journey through Europe, an experience that transformed his vision of life. In line with Montagud Rubio (2021), his work “Journal Meiner Reise im Jahr 1769” (“Diary of My Journey in 1769”) reflected this change by describing his break with academic security to venture into the unknown.
In Strasbourg, he met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who recognized Herder’s influence in his observations about literary figures such as Homer and Shakespeare (Montagud Rubio, 2021). In France, he also came into contact with the encyclopedists and studied the works of Jean - Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778). During this stage, according to Montagud Rubio (2021), Herder wrote “Kritische Wälder” (“Critical Forests”), a precursor text to the Sturm und Drang movement that anticipated Romanticism by emphasizing individualism and sentiment.
In 1770, he moved to Hamburg, where he met Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and later to Darmstadt, where he married Maria Karoline Flachsland, with whom he had seven children (Montagud Rubio, 2021). Between 1771 and 1776, he resided in Bückeburg, where he published “Abhandlung Über den Ursprung der Sprache” (“Treatise on the Origin of Language”), a work that earned him a prize from the Berlin Academy. In 1776, thanks to Goethe’s influence, he settled in Weimar as general superintendent and councilor of the consistory. There, in accordance with Montagud Rubio (2021), Herder developed a general morphology aimed at understanding the historical context behind each literary work.
Herder’s method is distinguished by his ability to recognize contradictions while simultaneously seeking a higher unity, which secured him a place in the history of dialectical logic (Montagud Rubio, 2021). It was during this period that he consolidated his transition to classicism (Irmscher, 2024). In that same context, he published an essay on the philosophy of the mind entitled "On the Cognition and the Feeling of the Human Soul" in 1778 (Montagud Rubio, 2021). His interest in history, especially the Middle Ages, led him to write, between 1778 and 1779, "Volkslieder Nebst Untermischten Anderen Stücken" (“The Voices of the Peoples in Songs”), a work in which he compiled poems from the Bible, Homer, Ossian, and other historical authors, in addition to including his own verses alongside those of Goethe and Matthias Claudius. These poems, according to Montagud Rubio (2021), which did not always align with the prevailing artistic current, reflected classical influences on Herder rather than Enlightenment ones.
Weimar became his permanent home until his death, except for a brief stay in Italy during the years he wrote "The Voices of the Peoples in Songs" (Montagud Rubio, 2021). This city had emerged as the epicenter of German classicism, and thanks to his role as court preacher and member of the consistory, he enjoyed a calm and stable life, aside from some philosophical disagreements and the publication of new works. Although his final years were spent comfortably in Weimar, he faced tense situations in the philosophical realm. Montagud Rubio (2021) notes that his support for revolutionary French ideas led him to fall out with several of his friends and to distance himself from Goethe.
Furthermore, his criticism of Kant’s philosophy—his own mentor—affected his popularity toward the end of his life, leading to his isolation from the previously supportive social circle (Montagud Rubio, 2021). However, despite these conflicts, his thought, work, and philosophy had a profound impact on his time, to the extent that in 1802 the Prince of Bavaria granted him the noble title "von," officially making him Johann Gottfried von Herder, a recognition that set him apart remarkably. According to Montagud Rubio (2021), he passed away a year later, on December 18, 1803, at the age of 59.
The Work of Johann Gottfried Herder: A Unique Philosophical and Linguistic Approach
His work clearly reflects his personality and intellectual approach (Montagud Rubio, 2021). Rather than focusing on a single subject, he is noted for his ability to write passionately about a wide range of disciplines, such as theology, philosophy, literature, philology, history, and German culture, merging all these areas in his texts. This approach has been criticized by some detractors, who argue that his writings lack organization—both grammatically and emotionally—and view them more as casual discourses than as academic works (Montagud Rubio, 2021). However, according to Foster (2023), this apparent disorganization is deliberate and serves a philosophical purpose.
Herder had deep philosophical reasons for employing this writing style (Forster, 2023). Firstly, he believed that this approach would make his work more accessible and appealing to the public, which was fundamental for him since he considered one of the essential tasks of philosophy to be achieving a significant social impact. Secondly, Herder defended the expressive superiority of speech over writing. His central thesis in the philosophy of the mind holds that thought should not be separated from will or emotion; for him, forms of thought that attempt to exclude affect are inherently distorting and inferior. In this sense, he believed that traditional academic writing, being cold and rigid, lacked this emotional connection. On the contrary, according to Forster (2023), the spontaneous expression of speech—or even writing that imitates it—is more authentic and genuine.
Finally, Herder opposed the lexical and grammatical rigidity of language, rejecting any form of dogmatic adherence to dictionaries or strict grammatical rules (Forster, 2023). In his view, such restrictions not only limited linguistic creativity but also the capacity of thought to develop freely and fluidly. For him, as Forster (2023) explains, language is not only a tool for communication but is also intimately linked to the process of thought, so any external limitation on language also restricts the freedom and inventiveness of thought itself.
The Importance of Herder in German Cultural History
Although his writing style is not characterized as the most intellectual, this does not diminish the value of his works, which remain highly relevant (Montagud Rubio, 2021). His studies focused on recovering and valuing the history and culture of Germany, analyzing the progression of these elements over time and how historical events influenced the character and condition of nations. He is recognized as one of the main precursors of the concept of "Volkgeist"—the spirit of the people—an idea that encompasses the distinctive traits of each nation. According to Montagud Rubio (2021), this concept was already present in works preceding official German Romanticism, precisely during the period in which Herder developed his work.
Herder’s Vision on Social and Cultural Evolution
In attempting to foresee the social evolution of his country, Herder adopted a unique approach by looking to the past rather than the present (Montagud Rubio, 2021). His interest focused on understanding and disseminating the origin of the popular songs of the Middle Ages, a period that many considered dark, but which he perceived as an era full of light and meaning. According to Montagud Rubio (2021), this was a time when European cultures began to form, transmitting their traditions and songs orally.
On the other hand, the Enlightenment—a movement that opposed the medieval view—maintained that all human beings were equal, an idea that Herder firmly rejected (Montagud Rubio, 2021). For him, each nation was unique, with its own spirit—the "Volkgeist." Only those who had been exposed to the cultural, geographical, and historical elements of their country could truly understand that nation. Furthermore, Herder disagreed with the idea that the Enlightenment represented the pinnacle of cultural development for humanity. This movement proclaimed that humanity had reached its culmination, something that Herder considered false. Montagud Rubio (2021) mentions that, according to him, figures far more brilliant existed in past eras, and the Middle Ages, far from being an era of darkness, represented a period of great philosophical splendor in several respects.
Herder and His Philosophical Approach to the Mind and Sensation
In his work "On the Cognition and Sensation" (1778) and other texts, Herder presents an influential stance within the philosophy of the mind, critically addressing the mind–body problem (Forster, 2023). Throughout his career, he explored various solutions to this issue, but the one he ultimately adopted is decidedly naturalistic and anti-dualistic. In this regard, as Forster (2023) explains, his proposal rejects the traditional division between the mental and the physical, suggesting that minds and their mental conditions consist of forces (Kräfte) that are reflected in bodily behavior, just as physical forces manifest in bodies.
Although he maintained an agnostic position on the nature of these forces, his theory has significant virtues (Forster, 2023). On one hand, it conceptually links mental states with specific bodily behaviors, as seen in the desire to eat an apple—which is not only conditioned but conceptually related to the act of eating it. This approach has advantages over both dualistic theories and mind–brain identity theories. On the other hand, it avoids reducing mental states to bodily behavior, which is equally important given that there are mental states not reflected in visible behavior, such as symbolic thoughts. According to Forster (2023), his agnosticism regarding the nature of mental force is interpreted not as a weakness, but as a recognition that, although concepts of the mind imply a real source of behavior, they do not make assumptions about the constitution of that source.
A key aspect of Herder’s proposal is his explanation of the mind through the phenomenon of irritation (Reiz), recently identified by the physiologist Albrecht von Haller (Forster, 2023). This phenomenon, exemplified by muscle fibers contracting in response to physical stimuli, has implications beyond the physiological, as it can also exhibit mental characteristics. Although Herder initially resisted physicalist reductionism, in certain drafts and versions of "On the Cognition and Sensation" he adopts a stance that might appear physiological. Forster (2023) notes that, from a modern perspective, this is valuable, even though current advances suggest we should reinterpret it in terms of more complex physiological processes.
In addition to his reflections on forces and irritation, Herder presents the mind as an indivisible unity, rejecting the idea of a sharp division between its faculties (Forster, 2023). This stance contrasts with the theories of thinkers such as Sulzer and Kant. However, the originality of Herder lies in rejecting the reduction of sensation and will to cognition and in asserting that the unity of the mind must be understood empirically rather than a priori. According to Forster (2023), Herder argues that, although the mind has a unified structure, human attempts to separate its faculties lead to malfunctions that must be avoided.
Herder’s conception of the unity of the mind is embodied in four specific doctrines (Forster, 2023). The first doctrine addresses the relationship between thought and language. It holds that language not only expresses thought but also limits it, especially in children whose cognition develops alongside language acquisition. The second doctrine deals with the interdependence between cognition and will. In accordance with Forster (2023), Herder argues that although will depends on cognition, the reverse is also true: cognition depends on will and affect, highlighting the intrinsic connection between intellectual and emotional processes.
A third doctrine pertains to the relationship between thought and sensation (Forster, 2023). Herder proposes that both concepts and beliefs depend on sensations, while the character of sensations also depends on concepts and beliefs. Normatively, he denounces the attempts of metaphysicians to disconnect thought from the empirical basis of sensations, which he considers the cause of intellectual malfunctions. Finally, the fourth doctrine concerns the unity of the faculties of sensation. According to Forster (2023), Herder posits that human nature implies a primordial fusion of perception with affective sensations, although human beings have the capacity to suspend this fusion.
References
Forster, M. (2023). Johann Gottfried von Herder. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2023). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2023/entries/herder/
Montagud Rubio, N. (2021, January 19). Johann Gottfried Herder: biografía de este filósofo alemán. Psicología y Mente. https://psicologiaymente.com/biografias/johann-gottfried-herder
Irmscher, H. D. (2024). Johann Gottfried von Herder. In Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Gottfried-von-Herder
Comments