Bouterwek

BOUTERWEK, Friedrich, German philosopher: b. 15 April 1766, at Oker, a village not far from Goslar, in North Ger many; d. Gottingen, 9 Aug. 1828. He was at first a follower of Kant but finally attached himself to Jacobi. In 1791 he became lecturer at Gottingen and six years later was appointed to the chair of philosophy there. His (Ideen zu einer allgemeinen Apodiktik' was the immedi ate fruit of his intimate acquaintance with the philosophical views of Fr. H. Jacobi. This work was published in two volumes, 1799. It was afterward completed by the (1813), and by the (Religion of Reason' (1824). In this work, as well as in his (1806-24), he had to contend with many powerful antagonists. Bouterwek has gained a permanent reputation by his der neuern Poesie und Beredsamkeit' (History of Modern Poetry and Eloquence) (1801-19), a work which, though unequal in some respects and in parts, espe cially in the first volume, partial and superficial, is an excellent collection of notices and origi nal observations and may be considered one of the best works of the kind in German lit erature. Among his minor productions, a selec

tion of which he published in 1818, are many essays, which are superior to the best of his larger speculative works; for instance, the in troduction to the 'History,) in which he gives an account of his literary labors until that period with great candor and with almost ex cessive severity against himself. His 'History of Spanish Literature) has been translated into Spanish, French and English. He has also written 'Paulus Septimus' (1795) ; 'Graf Donamar) (1791) ; and 'Ramiro) (1804) ; 'Aes thetik) (2 vols., 1806) ; Schriften,' with his autobiography (1818).