Jakob Thomasius


Jakob Thomasius was a German academic philosopher and jurist. He is now regarded as an important founding figure in the scholarly study of the history of philosophy. His views were eclectic, and were taken up by his son Christian Thomasius.

Work

Thomasius was influential in the contemporary realignment of philosophy as a discipline. Martin Mulsow writes:
He wrote on a wide range of topics, including plagiarism and the education of women.
He was the teacher of Gottfried Leibniz at the University of Leipzig, where Thomasius was professor of Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy, remaining a friend and correspondent, and has been described as Leibniz's mentor.
He is perhaps best remembered now as the author of the first published attack on Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise.