opposition. Herbart was born at Oldenburg in 1776, the
son of a councilor of justice, and had already become acquainted with the
systems of Wolff and Kant before he entered the University of Jena in
1794. In 1796 he handed in to his instructor Fichte a critique of two of
Schelling's treatises, in which the youthful thinker already broke
away from idealism. While a private tutor in Switzerland he made the
acquaintance of Pestalozzi. In 1802 he habilitated in Goettingen, where, in
1805, he was promoted to a professorship extraordinary; while in 1809 he
received the professorship in Koenigsberg once held by Kant, and later by
W. Tr. Krug (died 1842). He died in 1841 at Goettingen, whither he had been
recalled in 1833. His _Collected Works_ were published in twelve volumes,
1850-52 (reprinted 1883 _seq_.), by his pupil Hartenstein, who has also
given an excellent exposition of his master's system in his _Probleme und
Grundlehren der allgemeinen Metaphysik_, 1836, and his _Grundbegriffe der
ethischen Wissenschaften_, 1844; a new edition, in chronological order, and
under the editorship of K. Kehrbach, began to appear in 1882, or rather
1887, and has now advanced to the fourth volume, 1891. Herbart's chief
works were written during his Koenigsberg residence: the _Text-book of
Introduction to Philosophy_, 1813, 4th ed., 1837 (very valuable as an
introduction to Herbartian modes of thought); _General Metaphysics_, 1829
(preceded in 1806 and 1808 by _The Principal Points in Metaphysics_, with a
supplement, _The Principal Points in Logic); Text-book of Psychology_,[1]
1816, 2d ed., 1834; _On the Possibility and Necessity of applying
Mathematics to Psychology_, 1822; _Psychology as a Science_, 1824-25. The
two works on ethics, which were widely separated in time, were, on the
other hand, written in Goettingen: _General Practical Philosophy_, 1808;
_Analytical Examination of Natural Right and of Morals_, 1836. To these
may be added a _Discourse on Evil_, 1817; _Letters on the Doctrine of
the Freedom of the Human Will_, 1836; and the _Brief Encyclopaedia of
Philosophy_, 1831, 2d ed., 1841. His works on education and instruction,
whose influence and value perhaps exceed those of his philosophical
achievements (collected editions of the pedagogical works have been
prepared by O. Willmann, 1873-75, 2d ed., 1880; and by Bartholomaei),
extended through his whole life. Besides pedagogics, psychology was the
chief sphere of his services.