Gabriel Wagner

Gabriel Wagner
First page of Wagner's "Discourse and doubts," published in 1691.
Born	c. 1660 Quedlinburg
Died	c. 1717 Göttingen
Nationality	German
Era	17th-, 18th-century philosophy
Region	Western Philosophy
School	Spinozism Materialism Cartesianism Rationalism
Main interests	Metaphysics, Rationalism, Education
Influences Spinoza, Descartes, Leibniz, Christian Thomasius
Influenced Leibniz

Gabriel Wagner (c. 1660 – c. 1717) was a radical German philosopher and materialist who wrote under the nom-de-plume Realis de Vienna. A follower of Spinoza and acquaintance of Leibniz, Wagner did not believe that the universe or bible were divine creations, and sought to extricate philosophy and science from the influence of theology. Wagner also held radical political views critical of the nobility and monarchy. After failing to establish lasting careers in cities throughout German-speaking Europe, Wagner died in or shortly after 1717.

Wagner studied under scholar Christian Thomasius in Leipzig, and in 1691 published a philosophical tract critical of Thomasius, "Discourse and doubts in Christ: a Thomasian introduction to courtly philosophy." The tract satirically dubbed Thomasius the "German Socrates" and attracted attention within philosophical circles, including from Leibniz, who sought to contact Wagner. In the same year, after a dispute over rent, Wagner was expelled from university and imprisoned. Following his release, Wagner traveled in 1693 to Halle, where as a result of his increasingly libertine views he wholly broke with Thomasius, who by contrast was becoming more conservative. Moving to Berlin later in 1693 and then to Vienna, Wagner was in 1696 given a temporary position in Hamburg, which he lost due to his novel and sometimes polemical philosophical positions.

Receiving support from Leibniz, Wagner worked for a time at the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel; and maintained his contact with Leibniz. Leibniz wrote to Wagner in 1696, describing his admiration for Aristotle and opposing contemporary attacks on him, despite his view that Aristotle had discovered only a small portion of the discipline.