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Agnes Marie Constanze von Hartmann (née Taubert; 7 January 1844 – 8 May 1877) was a German philosopher and writer. She was married to the philosopher Eduard von Hartmann and was a passionate advocate for his work, Philosophy of the Unconscious (1869). She authored two notable books, under the name A. Taubert, that both critiqued and defended his ideas: Philosophie gegen naturwissenschaftliche Ueberhebung ("Philosophy Against the Overreach of Natural Sciences"; 1872) and Der Pessimismus und seine Gegner ("Pessimism and Its Opponents"; 1873). These works played a significant role in the intellectual debates surrounding the pessimism controversy in Germany.

Biography

Agnes Marie Constanze Taubert was born on 7 January 1844, in Stralsund, Kingdom of Prussia. She was the daughter of an artillery colonel, who was friends with the father of the philosopher Eduard von Hartmann. In 1872, Taubert married Von Hartmann in Berlin-Charlottenburg and had a child with him.

Taubert was a staunch supporter of her husband's work, Philosophy of the Unconscious (1869), and wrote two books—both critiquing and defending his ideas—under the pen name A. Taubert. By publishing under a pen name, she was not recognized as a woman philosopher and was instead engaged with as if she were a man.

Taubert's works, Philosophie gegen naturwissenschaftliche Ueberhebung ("Philosophy Against the Overreach of Natural Sciences"; 1872) and Der pessimismus und seine gegner ("Pessimism and Its Opponents"; 1873), significantly influenced the pessimism controversy in Germany. In her work, she defines the central problem of philosophical pessimism as "a matter of measuring the eudaimonological value of life in order to determine whether existence is preferable to non-existence or not." Like her husband, Taubert argued that this question could be answered through empirical observation.

Taubert died in Berlin, on 8 May 1877, of "an attack of a rheumatism of the joints", which was described as "extremely painful".

Legacy

Taubert has been described as "one of the first women to have a prominent role in a public intellectual debate in Germany". She has been compared to Olga Plümacher and Amalie J. Hathaway, two contemporary women philosophers who also contributed to the pessimism controversy. Taubert has also been described, along with Olga Plümacher, as a forgotten philosopher of the late 19th century.

A chapter on Taubert and Plümacher, written by Frederick C. Beiser, was included in the 2024 book, Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Women Philosophers in the German Tradition.

Works

• Philosophie gegen naturwissenschaftliche ueberhebung: Eine zurechtweisung des dr. med. Geo Stiebeling und seiner angeblichen widerlegung der Hartmann schen lehre vom unbewussten in der leiblichkeit [Philosophy Against the Overreach of Natural Sciences: A Rebuttal to Dr. Geo Stiebeling and His Alleged Refutation of Hartmann’s Doctrine of the Unconscious in Corporality] (in German). Berlin: Duncker. 1872. OCLC 555590478.
• Der pessimismus und seine gegner [Pessimism and Its Opponents] (in German). Berlin: Carl Duncker's verlag (C. Heymons). 1873. OCLC 16408190.

References

1. ^ "Taubert, Agnes". Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
2. ^ "Taubert, Agnes (1844-1877)". Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
3. Hall, Granville Stanley (1912). Founders of Modern Psychology. New York; London: Appleton. p. 184.
4. Tsanoff, Radoslav A. (1931). The Nature of Evil. New York: The Macmillan Company. p. 344.
5. Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der briefadeligen Häuser [Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the post-aristocratic houses] (in German). Gotha: J. Perthes. 1907. p. 270.
6. Cusack, Andrew (2021). Johannes Scherr: Mediating Culture in the German Nineteenth Century. Boydell & Brewer. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-64014-057-8.
7. ^ Beiser, Frederick C. (2016). "The Pessimism Controversy, 1870–1890". Weltschmerz: Pessimism in German Philosophy, 1860–1900. Oxford University Press. p. 168. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198768715.001.0001. ISBN 9780198768715.
8. Beiser, Frederick C. (2024-03-21), Gjesdal, Kristin; Nassar, Dalia (eds.), "Two Female Pessimists", The Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Women Philosophers in the German Tradition (1 ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 471–492, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190066239.013.30, ISBN 978-0-19-006623-9, retrieved 2024-10-18
9. ^ Beiser, Frederick C. (2016). "Two Forgotten Women Philosophers". After Hegel: German Philosophy, 1840–1900. Princeton University Press. p. 217. doi:10.23943/princeton/9780691163093.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-691-17371-9.
10. ^ Dahlkvist, Tobias (2007). Nietzsche and the Philosophy of Pessimism: Schopenhauer, Hartmann, Leopardi (PDF) (PhD thesis). Uppsala University. p. 78.
11. Hartmann, Edward von (1895). The Sexes Compared and Other Essays. Translated by Kenner, A. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co. p. v.
12. Roehr, Sabine (2015-10-27). "After Hegel: German Philosophy 1840–1900 by Frederick C. Beiser (review)". Journal of the History of Philosophy. 53 (4): 790–791. doi:10.1353/hph.2015.0073. ISSN 1538-4586. S2CID 170193435.
13. Bensick, Carol (2018-04-12). "An Unknown American Contribution to the German Pessimism Controversy: Amalie J. Hathaway's 'Schopenhauer'". Blog of the APA. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
14. Beiser, Frederick C. (2024-03-21), Gjesdal, Kristin; Nassar, Dalia (eds.), "Two Female Pessimists", The Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Women Philosophers in the German Tradition (1 ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 471–492, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190066239.013.30, ISBN 978-0-19-006623-9, retrieved 2024-10-18

Further reading

• Dahlkvist, Tobias (2007). Nietzsche and the Philosophy of Pessimism (PDF) (Thesis). Uppsala University. pp. 77–79

• 1844 births
• 1877 deaths
• 19th-century German non-fiction writers
• 19th-century German philosophers
• 19th-century German women writers
• 19th-century German writers
• 19th-century Prussian people
• 19th-century Prussian women
• 19th-century pseudonymous writers
• German women non-fiction writers
• German women philosophers
• People from Stralsund
• Philosophers from the Kingdom of Prussia
• Philosophers of pessimism
• Pseudonymous women writers
• Writers from the Kingdom of Prussia