Wolffianism

Wolffianism is Christian Wolff’s systematic rationalist philosophy, which organizes knowledge through definitions, principles, and deductive demonstrations across metaphysics, ethics, and other disciplines.

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Christian Wolff: Christian Wolff was an eighteenth-century German philosopher who developed a comprehensive rationalist system. His writings establish the terminology and systematic structure that define Wolffianism.
Demonstration: A demonstration is a proof that establishes a conclusion from explicit premises and rules of inference. Wolff presents philosophical doctrines as demonstrable rather than as isolated insights.
Ethics: Ethics is the philosophical study of right action, character, and the good life. Wolff constructs moral principles within the same systematic rational framework as metaphysics.
Leibnizianism: Leibnizianism is the philosophical tradition based on the ideas of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Wolff systematizes and interprets Leibniz’s ideas, while also departing from parts of his philosophy.
Rationalism: Rationalism is the philosophical view that reason is a primary source of knowledge. Wolffianism extends rationalist confidence in reason into a tightly ordered body of knowledge.
Definition: A definition specifies the meaning or essential features of a term or concept. Definitions let Wolff fix concepts before deriving propositions that depend on them.
Natural law: Natural law is a system of moral and legal principles grounded in human nature and reason. Wolff applies rational principles to duties and rights in his practical philosophy.
Empiricism: Empiricism is the view that experience is the primary source of knowledge. Empiricists challenged the priority Wolffianism gives to a priori reasoning.
Deductive reasoning: Deductive reasoning derives conclusions that follow necessarily from stated premises. Wolff uses demonstration to connect definitions and principles to philosophical conclusions.
Metaphysics: Metaphysics investigates fundamental questions about being, reality, causation, and existence. Wolff divides metaphysics into systematic inquiries that support his wider philosophical scheme.