BAADER, Wilder, Benedict Franz Xaver von, German Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher: b. Munich, 27 March 1765; d. there, 21 May 1841. He was the third son of the court physician to the Elector of Bavaria. He studied medicine at Ingolstadt and Vienna, and was graduated in 1784. He assisted his father in medicine, but soon gave up its practice to study engineering in the mining regions. He resided in England in 1791-96, and there be came acquainted •with rationalistic philosophy, which did not appeal to him. He became deeply interested in the religious speculations of Eck hart, Saint Martin and &dime, and was the intimate of Jacobi, and, for a time, of Schelling. He was appointed consulting engineer of the Bavarian mines in 1796 and soon after won a prize for his discovery that Glauber's salt might be substituted for potash in the manufacture of glass. For his valuable services he was en nobled in 1813, and was superintendent of mines in 1817-20. His Cognitionis)
(1822-25) combats modern philosophy and ad vocates that of Bahme. Baader became pro fessor of philosophy and speculative theology in the new University of Munich in 1826. In 1838 his opposition to Roman Catholic inter ference in civil matters led to his interdiction preventing him from lecturing again. He severely criticised the papacy and advocated its abolition, but recanted before his death. He is considered the greatest speculative Roman Catholic theologian of modern times and his influence has exceeded the bounds of his Church. His works, together with a biography by F. Hoffman, were published at Leipzig (16 vols., 1851-60). Consult Claason, J., von Baader's Leben and theosophische Werke als Inbegriff christlicher Philosophie: Voll standiger, wortgetreuer Auszug in geordneten Einzelsatzen) (Stuttgart 1886-87); Welzer and Welte, (Vol. I, Freiburg 1877).