Franz Xaver von Baader

Franz von Baader (27 March 1765 – 23 May 1841), born Benedikt Franz Xaver Baader, was a German Catholic philosopher, theologian, and mining engineer. Resisting the empiricism of his day, he denounced most Western philosophy since Descartes as trending towards atheism and has been considered a revival of the Scholastic school. He was one of the most influential theologians of his age but his influence on subsequent philosophy has been less marked.

Benedikt Franz Xaver Baader was born in Munich, Bavaria, on 27 March 1765. He was the third son of Joseph Franz von Paula Baader (15 September 1733 - 16 February 1794) and Maria Dorothea Rosalia von Schöpf (25 October 1742 - 5 February 1829), who were married on 23 May 1761. In 1775, Franz's father Joseph became the court physician of Maximilian III Joseph, the elector of Bavaria. (The elector died two years later.) Franz' two older brothers were both distinguished men. His brother Clemens Alois Andreas Baader (8 April 1762 - 23 March 1838) was an author, and his brother Joseph Anton Ignaz Baader (30 September 1763 - 20 November 1835) was an engineer. Franz studied medicine at Ingolstadt and Vienna, and for a short time assisted his father in his medical practice. However, Franz soon discovered that life as a physician did not suit him, and he decided to become a mining engineer instead. He studied under Abraham Gottlob Werner at Freiberg, travelled through several of the mining districts in north Germany, and resided in England from 1792 to 1796.

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