Transcriptions and English translations of Danish philosophical works, primarily from the nineteenth century. All source texts are in the public domain; scans are drawn from the Royal Danish Library, the National Library of Norway, and the Internet Archive. LaTeX sources and PDF files are on GitHub. For scholarly commentary on each text, see the notes page.
A note on the word “Danish”. Denmark and Norway were joined under a single crown from 1380 and administered as one state from the sixteenth century until 1814, governed from Copenhagen — which held the only university of the joint realms until the Royal Frederick University was founded in Christiania in 1811. Danish was the written language of educated Norwegians no less than of Danes. Ludvig Holberg, born in Bergen, and Niels Treschow, born in Drammen, are accordingly claimed today by Norway as well as by Denmark; but neither faced a choice between two national literatures, and for their own lifetimes the question does not arise. Treschow is the exact hinge: he held the chair of philosophy at Copenhagen until 1813, moved to the new university in Christiania, and saw the union dissolved by the Treaty of Kiel in January 1814. “Danish” here therefore means the philosophy of that shared realm and its shared written language, rather than of the post-1814 nation-state.
Niels Treschow (1751–1833)
Norwegian-born philosopher; professor of philosophy at Copenhagen 1803–1813, then the first professor of philosophy at the new Frederik University in Christiania (Oslo) from 1813. A Spinoza- and Leibniz-influenced monist and self-described Neoplatonist whose late "Identitets-system" treats the mental and the bodily — and, more broadly, the ideal and the real, subject and object — as two sides of one reality. His insistence that "in the real world only individuals exist" (universals being mere "Hjælpemidler til Oversyn," aids to survey, not knowledge of things in themselves) makes him an early source of the emphasis on concrete individuality that runs through nineteenth-century Danish philosophy. The relevance to the Bohr line is direct: Harald Høffding — Bohr's philosophical mentor, and himself in this catalog — discussed Treschow at length in »Danske Filosofer« (1909) and reprinted his essay on individuality in »Udvalgte Stykker af dansk filosofisk Litteratur« (1910). Treschow is thus the earliest figure on the Danish subject–object / individuality tradition that reaches Bohr's "epistemological lesson." The philosophical books are all listed below. Further items not catalogued here are the pre-1794 juvenilia and occasional pieces (»Om Veltalenheds Nytte« 1776, »Om offentlig Underviisning i Videnskaber« 1785, the 1790 dissertation »De anthropomorphismo«), the 1807 »Anatomisk-physiologiske Forelæsninger for Anthropologer«, the 1816 prize essay on rights and moral law, the 1817 »Politisk Catechismus«, and the 1830 verse »Skabelsen, Mennesket og Messias«. All are digitised and public-domain at nb.no.
Forsøg om Guds Tilværelse af theoretiske Grunde: i Anledning af den kantiske Philosophie
1794. Kjøbenhavn
The earlier of Treschow's two early critiques of Kant (1794, 1798), written directly »i Anledning af den kantiske Philosophie«: a defence of theoretical grounds for God's existence against Kant's verdict that the speculative proofs fail and that God can be reached only through practical reason. His earliest published engagement with critical philosophy and the starting point of the trajectory that leads to the monist »Identitets-system« of the 1831–33 »Testament«.
Forelæsninger over den Kantiske Philosophie
1798. Kjøbenhavn: Gyldendals Forlag
The later of the two early critiques of Kant, four years after the »Forsøg om Guds Tilværelse« and on a much larger scale (361 printed pp.): a course of lectures expounding and assessing the critical philosophy as a whole rather than contesting a single doctrine. A German version, »Vorlesungen über die Kantische Philosophie. Erster Theil« (421 pp.), appeared the same year and is separately digitised; worth establishing whether it is a translation of this volume or an independent recasting, and whether a second German part ever followed. Together with the 1794 »Forsøg« this is the record of what Treschow took from Kant and what he refused, and so the baseline against which the monism of the 1805 »Philosophiske Forsøg« should be read. Note provisional: written from the title pages and the standard bibliographies, not from a reading of the text.
Kort Udkast til Kundskab om Mennesket, eller Anthropologie til Brug for de lærde Skoler
1803. Kjøbenhavn: Fr. Brummers Forlag, hos Sebastian Popp
A school textbook of anthropology, written for the »lærde Skoler« in the year Treschow took the Copenhagen chair. It is the direct predecessor of the 1812 »Om den menneskelige Natur«, which is described in this catalog as the first psychology written in Danish; the interest of the 1803 book is therefore what the doctrine of the twofold — bodily and mental — access to the human being looked like nine years earlier, and in a form pitched at schoolboys. Named in the Brekke bibliography below as one of the pedagogical works this catalog had not yet reached. A German version, »Kurzer Entwurf zu einer Lehre von der Kenntniss des Menschen, oder Anthropologie« (323 pp.), appeared the same year. Note provisional: written from the title pages and the standard bibliographies, not from a reading of the text.
Indledning til den hele Philosophie og de vigtigste Lærebygninger af samme
1805. Kjøbenhavn: Fr. Brummers Forlag, hos Z. Breum
A survey introduction to philosophy as a whole and to its principal systems (»Lærebygninger«), issued by the same publisher in the same year as the »Philosophiske Forsøg« and evidently its companion: the historical and doctrinal frame within which the identity-system sketch was meant to be placed. It anticipates the 1811 »Om Philosophiens Natur og Dele«, which redoes the same task at greater length. Note provisional: written from the title page and the standard bibliographies, not from a reading of the text.
Philosophiske Forsøg
1805. Kjøbenhavn
The first sketch of the identity-system later expanded in the 1831–33 »Testament«. Useful as the compact early statement of his monism.
Gives der noget Begreb eller nogen Idee om enslige Ting? Besvaret med Hensyn til Menneskeværd og Menneskevel
1810. Det Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter, bd. 5
Short, self-contained treatise arguing that only individuals are real and that universals are mere aids to survey, not exact knowledge of things in themselves. The core statement of Treschow's primacy of the individual — the theme most resonant with Bohr's language of the "individuality" (indivisibility) of the quantum phenomenon. Reprinted in excerpt by Høffding, »Udvalgte Stykker af dansk filosofisk Litteratur« (1910), and complete in A.H. Winsnes' ed. of »Philosophiske Forsøg og andre Skrifter« (1966). It was also issued twice on its own under its subtitle as »Menneskeværd og Menneskevel« (Tanum 1963; Reitzel 1991, ed. Jørgen Juul Nielsen) — see `modern-editions` below, and note that the retitling is why it hides in library catalogues. NB: the essay is signed 1807 and printed in the volume published 1810; it is set in antiqua, not Fraktur, and uses »ö« rather than »ø« throughout. The key formulation is on printed p. 240: general concepts are »kun Hielpemidler til Oversyn, ei til nöiagtig Kundskab om Tingene i sig selv«; the thesis is restated on p. 247: »Der gives altsaa et fast Begreb om enslige Ting.«
Moral for Folk og Stat
1810. Kjøbenhavn: Fr. Brummers Forlag, hos J. F. Schultz
Treschow's moral philosophy, published the same year as the »enslige Ting« essay and running to 481 printed pp. The pairing of »Folk« and »Stat« in the title is the point of interest here: it is the first place to look for how far the primacy of the individual extends from metaphysics into ethics and politics, which is the question Brekke raises (see secondary literature below) and which »Lovgivnings-Principier« then takes up at length. The standard bibliographies give the work as 1810–11 in two parts; the nb.no scan is a single volume, so whether it carries both parts or only the first needs checking against the item. Note provisional: written from the title page and the standard bibliographies, not from a reading of the text.
Complete work (481 pp. digitised; bibliographies give 2 parts, 1810–11)Scan (nb.no)to do Elementer til Historiens Philosophie
1811. Kjøbenhavn, 2 vols.
Treschow's developmental philosophy applied to living nature and to the history of the species (and of individual nations), which pass through childhood, youth, maturity and age. The continuity/development strand of the tradition — a counterpoint to the quantum discontinuity that Bohr's epistemology had to accommodate. NB the full title is »Elementer til Historiens Philosophie i Forelæsninger holdne Vinteren 1806-1807«. The nb.no scan is a single digitised volume of 411 pp.; whether it carries both printed parts or only the first still needs checking against the item.
Om Philosophiens Natur og Dele: en dogmatisk og historisk Indledning til denne Videnskab
1811. Kjøbenhavn
A metaphilosophical introduction — what philosophy is, how it divides into parts, and how it got that way — expanding the 1805 »Indledning til den hele Philosophie«. It is the natural companion to the 1813 »Almindelig Logik«: the 1811 book says what the parts of the science are, the 1813 textbook works out one of them, and between them they should settle where Treschow thought the doctrine of individuals belongs in the architecture. Published the same year as the »Elementer til Historiens Philosophie«. Note provisional: written from the title page and the standard bibliographies, not from a reading of the text.
Om den menneskelige Natur i Almindelighed, især dens aandelige Sider
1812. Kjøbenhavn
The first psychology written in Danish, and the fullest statement of Treschow's double-aspect view. Man is not a composite of soul and body; the mental and the bodily are the same thing considered as an object of the inner and the outer sense. The programme is stated in § 2 — the human being »kan betragtes fra en dobbelt Side, nemlig en legemlig og aandelig«, with no »fælles Sands« in the middle from which both could be seen united — and made precise in the 2det Hovedstykke § 12 (p. 79), »Sandselighedens første Lov«: every bodily motion is bound to a mental sensation answering to it in quality and magnitude, and conversely, yet »Forholdet mellem begge er altsaa ikke caussalt«. A strict parallelism, and the 1812 anticipation of the identity system of »Om Gud«. Two further passages tie the book to the 1810 prize essay: p. 168, where individuality is itself »Tingenes uforanderlige Grundform« and »Enhver enslig Ting kan i denne Mening betragtes som Aftryk af en Idee, ei Arterne og Slægterne alene«; and p. 151, where the Linnaean system, horticulture and forestry classify plants by different marks yet »i alle tre Videnskaber kan Forstanden vise Grundighed«, the pure sciences aiming at Tingenes Væsen and the applied at Vigtighed for a purpose. Body: printed pp. 1–486, in an Indledning and four Hovedstykker (Forestillingsevnen, Føleevnen, Villien). Transcription of the complete work is under way and image-verified page by page.
Almindelig Logik
1813. Kjøbenhavn: Fr. Brummers Forlag
His textbook of logic / theory of knowledge, the counterpart to the 1812 psychology; develops the epistemology of the individual (concepts of particulars vs. general concepts). §§ 26–34 supply the machinery the 1810 essay presupposes but never states. The key passage is § 30 (printed p. 97): »Slægter saavelsom Arter ere deels egentlige, deels uegentlige eller analogiske. Hines Kiendemærker ere væsentlige og bestandige, disses blot tilfældige og ubestandige« — a criterion of naturalness for classifications. Treschow does not discard the improper kinds: they are »nødvendige« where no proper kind is to be had, whence the »kunstige Systemer«. §§ 32–34 give a theory of division (partitio vs. divisio, the ground of a division, and the rules that the parts must exhaust the whole, be mutually exclusive, and admit no leap from higher to lower species); and § 35 turns § 30 into a rule of method — take the ground of a division from things' essential and abiding criteria, and where none are to be had, choose those that come *nearest* to them, which makes naturalness graded rather than binary. NB § 31 denies that the highest being is a whole of which individuals are parts — pantheism and the emanation- system are said to rest on that confusion. Fraktur; uses »ø«, unlike the antiqua 1810 essay. 330 printed pp. in all; only §§ 26–35 are transcribed here — they close the First Main Part (p. 108).
Remainder of the work (§§ 1–25, 36–97+)to do
Lovgivnings-Principier
1820–1823. Christiania (Chr. Grøndahl), 3 vols.
The political philosophy, written in the Christiania years and the largest thing Treschow published apart from the »Testament«: vol. I »Om Staten i Forhold til Religion, Sæder og Cultur« (1820, 479 pp.), vol. II »Om Staten i Forhold til offentlig Velstand, Næringsveie, Handel, Fattigvæsenet, samt Penge- og Skatte-Væsenet m.m.« (1821, 437 pp.), vol. III »Om Staten med Hensyn til Justits- og Forsvarsvæsenet, Statsforfatning og Staters Forhold til hverandre« (1823, 513 pp.). Together with »Moral for Folk og Stat« this is where the primacy-of-the-individual thesis meets the state, and so where it can be tested against the relational, sociability-based reading of Treschow that Brekke defends (see secondary literature below). Note provisional: written from the title pages and the standard bibliographies, not from a reading of the text.
Vol. I: Religion, Sæder og Cultur (1820, 479 pp.)Scan (nb.no)to do Vol. II: offentlig Velstand, Næringsveie, Handel, Fattigvæsenet, Penge- og Skatte-Væsenet (1821, 437 pp.)Scan (nb.no)to do Vol. III: Justits- og Forsvarsvæsenet, Statsforfatning, Staters Forhold til hverandre (1823, 513 pp.)Scan (nb.no)to do Den philosophiske Sædelæres første Grunde, til Brug ved Forelæsninger
1824. Christiania: Trykt hos Chr. Grøndahl
The lecture textbook of moral philosophy from the Christiania chair, standing to »Moral for Folk og Stat« (1810) roughly as the 1813 »Almindelig Logik« stands to the larger theoretical works: the doctrine reduced to first principles for teaching. Its compactness is the reason to read it — a textbook has to say plainly what the big books can leave implicit. Note provisional: written from the title page and the standard bibliographies, not from a reading of the text.
Christendommens Aand, eller Den evangeliske Lære: Frimodig og upartisk beskreven
1828. Christiania: Trykt hos Chr. Grøndahl
Treschow's book on Christianity, three years before the first volume of the »Testament« and evidently its theological antechamber: »Om Gud, Idee- og Sandseverdenen« works out the doctrine of God that this book approaches from the evangelical side. The subtitle's »frimodig og upartisk« (candid and impartial) was not received as such — the Christiania pastor W. A. Wexels published against it, and Treschow replied the same year with the 35-page »Anhang til Bogen om Christendommens Aand«, linked below. The exchange is the one place in the corpus where the identity-system had to be defended as orthodoxy. Note provisional: written from the title pages and the standard bibliographies, not from a reading of the text.
»Anhang til Bogen om Christendommens Aand«, reply to Pastor Wexels (1828, 35 pp.)Scan (nb.no)to do Om Gud, Idee- og Sandseverdenen samt de førstes Aabenbarelse i den sidste. Et philosophisk Testament
1831–1833. Christiania (Grøndahl), 3 vols.
Treschow's summa, written in retirement and prefaced with an autobiography; the detailed statement of his monist "Identitets-system." God is not the sum of things but "a real individual" that makes all things one; consciousness "pictures the Absolute One," standing to the manifold as the mind stands to its own thoughts and decisions. The most explicit source for the subject–object identity theme. NB: the third word is »Sandse-« (world of sense), not »Sandheds-«. Two spans of vol. I are transcribed here because they settle a problem raised by »Almindelig Logik« § 31, which denies that the highest being is »noget Heelt, som Verden, hvoraf alle Individuer ere Dele«. The answer (p. 220) is that the unity of the ideal world is constituted by »Vexelvirkning« among Ideas that do not alter one another — a relational, not a mereological unity — and that (p. 221) »Disse ere de Individuer, hvoraf Sandseverdenen bestaaer«: individuals compose the world of sense, not God. p. 207 gives the sharpest statement of the primacy of the individual anywhere in the corpus: all class-, genus- and species-concepts are »mere eller mindre vaklende og ubestemmelige, men Individuerne i sig selv saa fuldkommen bestemte«, while an individual may pass over into another species, genus, order or class. p. 206 marks the break with Plato: the Ideas are individual, not the objects of general concepts.
Modern editions
Menneskeværd og Menneskevel
1963. Oslo: Johan Grundt Tanum, 57 pp.
Free-standing reprint of the 1810 »Gives der noget Begreb eller nogen Idee om enslige Ting? Besvaret med Hensyn til Menneskeværd og Menneskevel« — the essay is here retitled by its subtitle, which is why it does not surface under the original title in library catalogues. Predates the Winsnes selection by three years and is the first modern printing of the essay in full. The National Library record gives the languages as Danish and Norwegian Bokmål, so the volume evidently carries something more than the Danish original; worth establishing what, since a 1963 Norwegian rendering would be a prior translation of the text transcribed and translated here under »enslige-ting«. Digitised at nb.no under the »bokhylla« licence: Norwegian IP addresses only.
»Philosophiske Forsøg« og andre skrifter
Ed. A. H. Winsnes. 1966. Oslo: Johan Grundt Tanum, 225 pp. Series: »Norsk filosofi i det 19. århundre« 1 / Thorleif Dahls kulturbibliotek
The standard modern selection from Treschow, and the volume cited in the »enslige-ting« note above as the source in which the 1810 essay is reprinted complete. It opens the series »Norsk filosofi i det 19. århundre« within Thorleif Dahls kulturbibliotek — i.e. it presents Treschow as the first figure of a *Norwegian* nineteenth-century philosophy, which is the framing the note at the head of this file flags as diverging from Høffding's Danish one. The editor is the same A. H. Winsnes as the 1927 monograph »Niels Treschow. En opdrager til menneskelighet« and the 1956 Trondheim address listed under secondary literature below, so his introduction can be read against that 1956 text. Contents need verifying against the volume: it takes its title from the 1805 »Philosophiske Forsøg« (listed above as »philosophiske-forsog«, still to-do here), so it is the most likely modern access point for that work as well. Digitised at nb.no under the »bokhylla« licence: Norwegian IP addresses only.
Menneskeværd og menneskevel
Ed. Jørgen Juul Nielsen (introduction and notes). 1991. København: C. A. Reitzels Forlag, 83 pp. ISBN 87-7421-728-3
Danish edition of the same 1810 essay, again under its subtitle, with an introduction and notes by Jørgen Juul Nielsen. The only one of the three modern editions to carry a full modern commentary on the essay, and the only one published in Denmark — so it is the natural check on the reading of »enslige Ting« given here: whether Juul Nielsen also takes the primacy-of-the-individual thesis to be the essay's point, and whether his notes settle anything about the text's antiqua/»ö« orthography or the 1807 signature vs. 1810 printing. Not digitised; obtain a copy or consult by ILL.
Complete edition (83 pp.) — not held; consult against the »enslige-ting« translationreference
Secondary literature
Niels Treschow
A. H. Winsnes. 1956. Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskabs Forhandlinger, bd. 29 (Trondheim: Aktietrykkeriet, i kommisjon hos F. Bruns Bokhandel, 1956), 31 pp. (offprint, pp. 1*–31*)
Biographical portrait delivered by the literary historian Andreas Hofgaard Winsnes as the address on the Society's Høytidsdag (Anniversary Day), 26 February 1956. A concise Norwegian overview of Treschow's life and thought — his »philosophia perennis«, his debt to Leibniz and Spinoza, and the primacy-of-the-individual theme of »Gives der noget Begreb eller nogen Idee om enslige Ting?« It closes with a valuable bibliography (»Henvisninger«) of the older scholarship on Treschow, including Høffding's »Danske Filosofer« (1909) and »Udvalgte Stykker« (1910). Winsnes is the same scholar who edited »Philosophiske Forsøg og andre Skrifter« (1966), cited under the »enslige-ting« work above; he had earlier written the monograph »Niels Treschow. En opdrager til menneskelighet« (Oslo, 1927). In Norwegian; secondary literature, so no translation is planned.
Complete article (pp. 1*–31*)PDFcomplete Niels Treschow (1751–1833), A Danish Neoplatonist
Svend Erik Stybe. 1976. Danish Yearbook of Philosophy 13 (1), pp. 29–47
The one substantial treatment of Treschow in English, and therefore the natural point of departure for any anglophone discussion of him. Stybe reads him as a Neoplatonist — the label Treschow applies to himself — which bears directly on the »Om Gud« material: the eternal Ideas, the outflowing (»Udflydelse«) of both Ideas and sensible things from the absolutely One, and the identity-system's principle that »essentially the highest and the lowest things are entirely alike«. NB that Treschow's Neoplatonism is heterodox on exactly the point that matters here: his Ideas are themselves individual, not the objects of general concepts, and he breaks with Plato explicitly on that ground (»Om Gud« I, p. 206). Worth checking whether Stybe registers that departure, and whether he anticipates the primacy-of-the-individual reading. In English; secondary literature, so no translation needed.
Complete article (pp. 29–47)DOIBrillreference Niels Treschow, 1751–1833: en tenker mellom to tidsaldrer
H. O. Christophersen. 1977. Oslo: Grøndahl, 549 pp. ISBN 82-504-0270-7
The standard monograph on Treschow, and the largest single piece of scholarship on him — »a thinker between two ages«, i.e. straddling the Enlightenment and Romanticism, and equally the Danish and Norwegian phases of his career. It is the first thing to consult before claiming novelty for any reading of Treschow: anyone arguing for the primacy-of-the-individual thesis, or for the line running toward Høffding and Bohr, needs to know whether Christophersen has already said it. Digitised at the National Library of Norway but under the »bokhylla« licence, so readable only from Norwegian IP addresses; obtain a print copy by ILL. In Norwegian; secondary literature, so no transcription or translation is planned.
Den tidlige norske filosofien: en lesning av Treschow, Schweigaard og Monrad
Erik Lundestad. 2002. Universitetet i Tromsø
Reads Treschow alongside A. M. Schweigaard and M. J. Monrad as the first phase of an independent Norwegian philosophy. Useful as a check on how the Norwegian tradition frames Treschow — which is a different framing from Høffding's Danish one, and the divergence is itself worth knowing about (see the note on Denmark–Norway at the head of this file). Digitised at the National Library of Norway under the »bokhylla« licence: Norwegian IP addresses only. In Norwegian; secondary literature, so no transcription or translation is planned.
»Filosofien på Københavns Universitet fra 1803 til 1813: Niels Treschow«, in »Dansk oplysningsfilosofi 1700–1800«
Carl Henrik Koch. 2003. Den danske filosofis historie, ed. Sten Ebbesen and Carl Henrik Koch, bd. 3 (København: Gyldendal, 2003), 385 pp. ISBN 87-02-01584-6; e-book 2016, ISBN 978-87-11-49738-8. The Treschow chapter stands in Part 1, »Filosofien som skole og universitetsfag«.
The standard Danish account, and the counterpart to Christophersen's Norwegian monograph above: Koch treats Treschow as a Danish university philosopher — the man who held the Copenhagen chair between Riisbrigh and Sibbern — rather than as the first figure of a Norwegian nineteenth-century philosophy, which is the framing Winsnes and Lundestad adopt and which the note at the head of this file flags. The publisher's description of the volume names Treschow first among the philosophers treated, ahead of Holberg, Eilschov, Rothe, Boye, Hornemann, Baggesen and the Ørsted brothers, so the treatment should be substantial. NB where it sits: the chapter covers 1803–13 but is filed in the *Enlightenment* volume (1700–1800), because Koch carries the history of the chair past 1800 to complete it — not where one would look first. The bibliotek.dk record for bd. 5, »Den danske idealisme 1800–1880« (2004, 595 pp.), lists only its four main parts (Naturfilosoffer og schellingianere; Kritikken af idealismens menneskesyn; Den danske hegelianisme og dens kritikere; På overgangen til positivismens tidsalder), so whether Treschow reappears there is not settled from the catalogue record alone and should be checked against the volume. What else needs checking: whether the chair-history framing means Koch covers the teaching and institutional context only, or the doctrine as well — in particular the 1810 »enslige Ting« essay and the 1812 psychology, both written inside the decade the chapter covers. Page extent not yet established. Note that bd. 3 also carries the chapter on Holberg, who opens this catalog, so the volume serves both authors. Not freely digitised; in print and as a 2016 e-book. In Danish; secondary literature, so no translation is planned.
Chapter »Filosofien på Københavns Universitet fra 1803 til 1813: Niels Treschow« — not held; page range to establishbibliotek.dkreference «(S)aa meget bedre skikkede til … de mindste Ting»: Niels Treschow om dannelse og kjønn
Tone Brekke. 2012. Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning 36 (2), pp. 99–120
Treschow on Dannelse (Bildung) and gender. Brekke's case is that although Treschow held that women should be excluded from the university — importing and continuing a Continental ideal of Dannelse that did so — he nonetheless works out a more nuanced model of gender than the period's dominant one: against academia as a homosocial, over-rationalised and professionalised sphere, he grounds both individual and social Dannelse in sociability, the family, and feminine models of sympathy and care. Two reasons to keep it in view here. First, sociability is a *relational* rather than an atomistic way of taking the individual, so it is a test of how far the primacy-of-the-individual thesis in »enslige Ting« and »Om Gud« extends beyond metaphysics into the moral and political writings (»Moral for Folk og Stat«, »Lovgivnings-Principier«). Second, the bibliography is unusually rich on the pedagogical Treschow — Helge Dahl's 1965 magister thesis »Niels Treschow – en pedagogisk tenker«, Anathon Aall's 1911 piece on his doctrine of development, Erik Lundestad's 1998 article on the »Forsøg om Guds Tilværelse«, and the 1803 »Kort Udkast til Kundskab om Mennesket« (the anthropology textbook that precedes the 1812 psychology) — none of which is catalogued here yet. Paywalled at Scandinavian University Press; Brekke is at ILOS, University of Oslo, so a repository copy may exist. In Norwegian with an English abstract; secondary literature, so no translation is planned.
«Thi Klogskab burde være Videnskabs Slavinde, og hielpe den til at bestige Visdoms Throne» – Niels Treschow og forholdet mellom filosofisk visdom og politisk klokskap
Lars Petter Storm Torjussen. 2026. Norsk filosofisk tidsskrift 61 (1–2), pp. 4–14
The most recent scholarship on Treschow, and the piece that bears most directly on the political works newly catalogued above (»Moral for Folk og Stat«, »Lovgivnings-Principier«). Torjussen — at the Institutt for pedagogikk, Universitetet i Bergen — argues that for Treschow the task of philosophy is not to supply »kunnskab« but wisdom, by way of spiritual exercises aimed at peace of mind, and reads him through Pierre Hadot's »view from above«: the exercise of seeing how small one's life is under a cosmic perspective. Politics then rests on a philosophical doctrine of virtue, prudence being raised to wisdom's throne and made science's handmaid. Two reasons to keep it in view. First, it is a rival to the reading this catalog pursues — a Treschow whose centre is a therapeutic and ethical conception of philosophy rather than a metaphysics of individuals — and the two need to be squared, or the difference stated. Second, the Hadot frame is a claim about *method* running across several books, so it is a check on whether the primacy-of-the-individual thesis is the organising idea of the corpus or one strand among several. In Norwegian with an English abstract; secondary literature, so no translation is planned. Open access (diamond, CC BY) at the DOI; the nb.no copy of the issue is access-restricted, so use the DOI.
Complete article (pp. 4–14)DOIreference F.C. Sibbern (1785–1872)
Frederik Christian Sibbern, professor of philosophy at Copenhagen 1813–1870. Close friend of Poul Martin Møller; Kierkegaard attended his lectures. A transitional figure who resisted the Hegelian campaign of the 1830s and anticipated several of Kierkegaard's central arguments.
Menneskets aandelige Natur og Væsen. Et Udkast til en Psychologie
1819–1828. Copenhagen
Sibbern's principal psychological work, published in two parts: Part 1 (1819) and Part 2 (1828), the latter subtitled »Psychologisk Pathologie«. Part 2 was reissued 1885 by his son Gabriel Sibbern as »Læren om de menneskelige Følelser og Lidenskaber«.
Complete work (both parts)to do
Om Elskov eller Kjerlighed imellem Mand og Qvinde
1819. Copenhagen
Transcribed from the »Tredie uforandrede Udgave« (Kjøbenhavn 1858; text unchanged from the 1819 first edition). Three »Bøger« plus a table of contents; front-matter prefaces in Fraktur, body in roman. Transcription and English translation both complete and image-verified (front matter through Tredie Bog).
Logikens Elementer
1822. Copenhagen
Printed as manuscript for students; new edition 1827.
Om Erkjendelse og Granskning. Til Indledning i det academiske Studium
1822. Copenhagen
Transcribed from the first edition (Kjøbenhavn 1822, Paa Fr. Brummers Forlag; Trykt hos C. Græbe). Danish transcription complete and image-verified (Fortale, Oversigt, body §§ 1–22, Slutning, and the Rettelser errata leaf). English translation complete (lightly modernized register; front matter + §§ 1–22 + Conclusion; key terms glossed with the bracketed Danish on first use per section). The Danish Rettelser (errata) leaf corrects only the Danish original's orthography and is noted in a one-line translator's note.
Udaf Gabrielis' Breve til og fra Hjemmet
1826. Copenhagen
Sibbern's Gabrielis epistolary novel — a Danish »wertheriade«. First published 1826 as »Efterladte Breve af Gabrielis«; expanded into the collected »Udaf Gabrielis' Breve til og fra Hjemmet«. Transcribed from the »Femte Udgave« (Kjøbenhavn 1893, Det Reitzelske Forlag), which carries a Forord by Harald Høffding and Sibbern's own dedication to Bishop J. P. Mynster (dated 1850). Roman/antiqua; ~302 pp. of dated letters. Title page and dedication complete and image-verified; body of letters in progress.
Logik som Tænkelære fra en intelligent Iagttagelses Standpunct og i analytisk-genetisk Fremstilling
1835. Copenhagen
Bemærkninger og Undersøgelser, fornemmelig betreffende Hegels Philosophie
1838. C.A. Reitzel, Copenhagen
Originally in Maanedsskrift for Litteratur XIX (1838).
Om Philosophiens Begreb, Natur og Væsen. En Fremstilling af Philosophiens Propædeutik
1843. Copenhagen
Companion piece to Om Erkjendelse og Granskning (1821/22); the Fortale explicitly relates the two. Danish transcription (Fraktur, from the KB scan) COMPLETE: front matter (Fortale) + §§ 1–21 + the verbatim Rettelser leaf (printed pp. 1–86), image-verified page by page with the NB/non-NB errata folded into the body. English translation complete (front matter + §§ 1–21, on the same policy as the erkjendelse companion volume: lightly modernized register; key terms glossed with the bracketed Danish on first use per section; Latin/German kept as in the print). The Danish Rettelser (errata) leaf corrects only the Danish original's orthography and is noted in a one-line translator's note.
Psychologie, indledet ved almindelig Biologie
1843. Copenhagen
Condensed reworking of the psychology; 4th ed. 1862.
Speculativ Kosmologie med Grundlag til en speculativ Theologie
1846. Copenhagen
Presents Sibbern's vitalistic conception of nature.
Om Forholdet imellem Sjæl og Legeme, saavel i Almindelighed som i phrenologisk, pathognomonisk, physiognomonisk og ethisk Henseende i Særdeleshed
1849. Copenhagen
One of the most detailed treatments of the psychophysical problem.
Tænkelære eller Logik. I Udtog til Brug ved Forelæsninger
1849. Copenhagen
3rd ed. 1866.
Moralphilosophie som Retsindigheds- og Tilbørlighedslære
1878. Copenhagen
Posthumous; edited by his son Gabriel Sibbern. Left as a draft.
Complete bibliography (40 items)
A near-complete list of F.C. Sibbern's publications and manuscripts. ✦ marks works available in this collection.
Published works
1811De principiis philosophicis disciplina juris · Doctoral dissertation, Copenhagen — »Om retslærens filosofiske principper«.
1819Menneskets aandelige Natur og Væsen. Et Udkast til en Psychologie, 1. Deel · Copenhagen✦ in the collection 1819Om Elskov eller Kjerlighed imellem Mand og Qvinde · Copenhagen — 3rd ed. 1858.✦ in the collection 1819»Om Poesiens Indflydelse paa Dannelsen og paa Sindets Oplivelse. Fragmenter af en Poetik« · Iris (1819)
1822Logikens Elementer · Copenhagen (printed as manuscript; new ed. 1827)✦ in the collection 1822Om Erkjendelse og Granskning. Til Indledning i det academiske Studium · Copenhagen✦ in the collection 1822Ueber das Verhältniss des christlichen Glaubens zum philosophischen Erkennen · Theologische Zeitschrift (hrsg. Schleiermacher et al.), III
1823De præexistentia, genesi et immortalitate animæ · Universitetsprogram, Nov. 1823
1824»Over Professor Howitz' Afhandling: Om Afsindighed og Tilregnelse« · Juridisk Tidsskrift IX
1826Efterladte Breve af Gabrielis · Copenhagen — Epistolary novel; a Danish »wertheriade«. 6th ed. 1927.✦ in the collection 1828Menneskets aandelige Natur og Væsen, 2. Deel: Psychologisk Pathologie · Copenhagen✦ in the collection 1829»Om den menneskelige Sjæls Subsistents i Liv og Død« · Philosophiskt Archiv og Repertorium (1829)
1829»Bidrag til Bestemmelsen af Philosophiens Forhold til Theologien« · Philosophiskt Archiv og Repertorium (1829)
1829–30Philosophiskt Archiv og Repertorium, I–IV · Copenhagen (edited by Sibbern)
1829–30»Om den intellectuelle Anskuelse« · Philosophiskt Archiv og Repertorium (1829–30)
1830»Bidrag til Opklaring af de menneskelige Drivters Natur og Væsen« · Philosophiskt Archiv og Repertorium (1830)
1830»Bidrag til Besvarelsen af det Spørgsmaal: Hvad er Dogmatik« · Philosophiskt Archiv og Repertorium (1830)
1834Mindeskrift over H. B. Melchior · Copenhagen
1834–69Om Poesie og Konst i Almindelighed, med Hensyn til alle Arter deraf, dog især Digtekonsten, I–III · Copenhagen — The principal aesthetic work of Danish Romanticism.
1835Logik som Tænkelære fra en intelligent Iagttagelses Standpunct og i analytisk-genetisk Fremstilling · Copenhagen✦ in the collection 1835–36Patriotiske Intelligentsblade, 1.–2. hft. · Copenhagen
1836Hvad det har at betyde, at komme til Universitetet · Copenhagen
1836Mindeskrift over A. W. Brorson · Copenhagen
1838Bemærkninger og Undersøgelser, fornemmelig betreffende Hegels Philosophie, betragtet i Forhold til vor Tids · C.A. Reitzel, Copenhagen — Originally in Maanedsskrift for Litteratur XIX (1838).✦ in the collection 1843Om Philosophiens Begreb, Natur og Væsen. En Fremstilling af Philosophiens Propædeutik · Copenhagen✦ in the collection 1843Psychologie, indledet ved almindelig Biologie · Copenhagen (4th ed. 1862)✦ in the collection 1843Dikaiosyne eller Bidrag til Politik og politisk Jurisprudents for Danske, 1. hft. · Copenhagen
1846Speculativ Kosmologie med Grundlag til en speculativ Theologie · Copenhagen✦ in the collection 1846»Om den christelige Yttringsfrihed i kirkelig Henseende« · Universitetsprogram, Sept. 1846
1848»Bidrag til at oplyse nogle ontologiske Udtryk i Aristoteles' Metaphysik« · Universitetsprogram, Okt. 1848
1849Om Forholdet imellem Sjæl og Legeme, saavel i Almindelighed som i phrenologisk, pathognomonisk, physiognomonisk og ethisk Henseende i Særdeleshed · Copenhagen✦ in the collection 1849Tænkelære eller Logik. I Udtog til Brug ved Forelæsninger · Copenhagen (3rd ed. 1866)✦ in the collection 1849»Nogle Betragtninger over Stat og Kirke« · Universitetsprogram, Okt. 1849
1850Ud af Gabrielis's Breve til og fra Hjemmet · Copenhagen — Continuation of the 1826 Gabrielis novel.✦ in the collection 1858–62Meddelelser af Indholdet af et Skrift fra Aaret 2135, I–II · Copenhagen — Sibbern's political utopia; unfinished (continued to 1872).
1859Mindeskrift over C. J. Heise · In Platons Philebos, trans. C. J. Heise, Copenhagen
1865–70Samfundsbetragtninger, 1.–2. hft. · Copenhagen
1866Breve til og fra F. C. Sibbern, I–II · Ed. C. L. N. Mynster, Copenhagen — Correspondence collection.
1878Moralphilosophie som Retsindigheds- og Tilbørlighedslære · Copenhagen — Posthumous; edited by Gabriel Sibbern.✦ in the collection 1885Læren om de menneskelige Følelser og Lidenskaber · Copenhagen — Reissue of the 1828 »Psychologisk Pathologie«, ed. Gabriel Sibbern for the centenary of Sibbern's birth.✦ in the collection Poul Martin Møller (1794–1838)
Poet, philosopher, and Professor of Philosophy at Copenhagen 1831–1838. The most important philosophical figure in the generation immediately preceding Kierkegaard; the Concept of Anxiety is dedicated to his memory. A digital scholarly edition of Møller's collected writings — with textual-critical apparatus and commentary — is in preparation at Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab (DSL) and available in prototype at http://pmm.dsl.dk; the transcriptions below are independent of it.
Tanker over Muligheden af Beviser for Menneskets Udødelighed
1837. Maanedsskrift for Litteratur 17 (1837), pp. 1–72 and 422–453
Two-part essay. Article I (§§ I–VII) transcribed from Skrifter i Udvalg (1930); Article II (§§ VIII–XI, MfL 1837 pp. 422–453), omitted from that selection, transcribed from the Fraktur first printing in matching modernized orthography. Danish transcription complete; English translation by Jon Stewart (2022).
En Dansk Students Eventyr
1824 / 1843. Efterladte Skrifter, bd. 3, ed. F.C. Olsen, C.A. Reitzel
Written c. 1824; published posthumously 1843. Selections.
Strøtanker
1843. Efterladte Skrifter, bd. 3, ed. F.C. Olsen, C.A. Reitzel
Selected aphorisms and short essays, arranged in twelve thematic groups (incl. Problemet »Udødelighed«, Eksistentialisme, Dybdepsykologi). Translation-only project: text from the Lindhardt og Ringhof e-book (2018), which preserves the original orthography; no public Danish transcription is produced.
Complete selection (12 thematic groups)Translationcomplete Hvad er Philosophie?
1843. Efterladte Skrifter, bd. 3, ed. F.C. Olsen, C.A. Reitzel
Remainder of lecture courseto do
Ontologien eller Kategoriernes System
1837–1838. Efterladte Skrifter, bd. 3, ed. F.C. Olsen, C.A. Reitzel
Fragment (Brudstykke) on ontology / the system of the categories, named after the science Møller lectured on in the winter half-year of 1837 and worked on during his final illness (1838). Transcribed from the Fraktur setting of Efterladte Skrifter vol. 3 (3rd ed.), printed pp. 189–212. Includes the Indledning and the opening of "Første Capitel: Læren om de enkelte Begreber" (Being–Nothing–Something), engaging Kant, Schelling, and Hegel. Breaks off mid-section.
Forberedelser til en Afhandling om Affectation
1837. Efterladte Skrifter, bd. 3, ed. F.C. Olsen, C.A. Reitzel
Fragment (Brudstykke IV): materials toward a projected treatise on affectation — one of Møller's signature ethical-psychological concepts (inauthenticity, self-deception). Opens with a connected treatment (begun 1837) defining affectation as a compound of falsity and self-deception and distinguishing three degrees (momentary, fixed, changing); then the editor's thematic grouping of the author's scattered aphoristic notes, rich in cultural diagnosis. Contains the striking "two sides" passage — "Da enhver Sag kan sees fra to Sider, var det tilfældigt, fra hvilken Side den øieblikkeligen blev seet" — and the China frog-bundle image. Pairs directly with § 29 of the Moralphilosophi lectures. Transcribed from the Fraktur setting of Efterladte Skrifter vol. 3 (3rd ed.), printed pp. 163–188.
Om Begrebet Ironie
1835–1837. Efterladte Skrifter, bd. 3, ed. F.C. Olsen, C.A. Reitzel
Fragment (Brudstykke II) occasioned by Provost Tryde's review of Sibbern's Æsthetik (Maanedsskrift for Litteratur, bd. 13, 1835). As a member of the journal's editorial board Møller began appended remarks on the concept of irony but, per the editor's note, "bragte kun Indledningen til Ende": only the treatment of MORAL irony was completed, and the piece breaks off as it turns to poetic irony ("Vi gaae nu over til den poetiske Ironie"). Traces irony from Greek moral consciousness (Aristotle) through Kant and Fichte to F. Schlegel's Lucinde and Hegel's "subjectivity that knows itself as the highest" — a direct line to Kierkegaard's Concept of Irony. Transcribed from the Fraktur setting of Efterladte Skrifter vol. 3 (3rd ed.), printed pp. 152–158.
Forelæsnings-Paragrapher over Moralphilosophien
1837. Efterladte Skrifter, bd. 5, C.A. Reitzel, 1855–56, pp. 141–162
Møller's ethics in 47 numbered lecture-paragraphs (§§), reconstructed by the editor "from lecture-notes of 1837, collated with the Author's manuscript" (F.C. Olsen). The systematic practical-philosophy counterpart to the Ontologien. Three main parts: the Doctrine of Imputation (§§ 6–12; freedom against both indifferentism and determinism, the anatomy of the voluntary/intentional/deliberate act); the Doctrine of Happiness (§§ 13–22; interest, feeling, the Cyrenaic/ Cynic/Epicurean sequence, self-preservation, benevolence, right, the perfect existence); and the Doctrine of the Good (§§ 23–47), covering Virtue (the mean between extremes, affectation), Duty (the categorical imperative), and Conscience — closing (§ 47) with the individual fulfilling its vocation as a member of the rationally organised State. Transcribed from the Fraktur setting of Efterladte Skrifter vol. 5.
Qvindelighed
1822–1823. Efterladte Skrifter, bd. 5, C.A. Reitzel, 1855–56, pp. 5–13
Written 1822–1823; published posthumously. Transcribed from the Fraktur setting of Efterladte Skrifter vol. 5 (1855–56).
Secondary literature
Ironiens uendelige frihed: ironi i »En dansk Students Eventyr«
Claus Elholm Andersen. 2003. K&K – Kultur og Klasse 31, nr. 96 (2003): Metonymi, pp. 114–136
Article on irony in »En dansk Students Eventyr«. Open access via tidsskrift.dk; the journal reserves rights under Danish copyright. English translation planned, pending permission from the author and/or publisher.
Complete article (pp. 114–136)Journalto do Udlængsel og hjemve: personlighedsopfattelse hos Poul Møller og hans forgængere
Martin Paludan-Müller. 1987. Museum Tusculanum Press (UJDS-studier 5), 101 pp.
Monograph on the conception of personality (»personlighedsopfattelse«) in Poul Møller and his predecessors, tracing the theme from personal rationalism through romanticism/psychology to personal realism. ISBN 87-7289-037-1.
Poul Martin Møller as a Philosopher
Carl Henrik Koch. 2025. In Nassim Bravo, Finn Gredal Jensen & Jon Stewart (eds.), »Poul Martin Møller: Poet, Philosopher and Philologist« (Danish Golden Age Studies 16), Leiden: Brill, ch. 3, pp. 107–130
A general account of Møller's philosophy — as far as I know the only treatment of Poul Martin Møller written in English. Included here as a reference; the article is already in English, so no translation is planned.
Complete chapter (pp. 107–130)BrillDOIcomplete Rasmus Nielsen (1809–1884)
Professor of philosophy at Copenhagen 1841–1884. Developed the central position of the mid-century debate: that faith and knowledge spring from absolutely heterogeneous principles. Target of both Brøchner's philosophical critique and Brandes's cultural polemic.
Den speculative Methodes Anvendelse paa den hellige Historie
1842. H.C. Klein, Copenhagen
Danish version, edited by B.C. Bøggild, of Nielsen's 1840 Latin dissertation »De speculativa historiae sacrae tractandae methodo«. 162 pp. The earliest statement of the speculative programme he would spend the 1850s and 1860s dismantling from within.
Den propædeutiske Logik
1845. P.G. Philipsen, Copenhagen
283 pp. Nielsen's pre-Kierkegaardian logic textbook, superseded by the »Philosophisk Propædeutik« of 1857. Useful as the baseline against which to measure what the encounter with Kierkegaard changed.
Evangelietroen og den moderne Bevidsthed: Forelæsninger over Jesu Liv
1849. C.A. Reitzel, Copenhagen
Published 19 May 1849, five months before the »Johannes Climacus« review. X + 530 pp.; the title page marks it "Deel 1", but no further part appeared. Lectures on the life of Jesus in which Nielsen first works out publicly how evangelical faith is to stand toward modern historical-critical consciousness — the book that began his appropriation of Kierkegaard and that disappointed Kierkegaard himself.
Mag. S. Kierkegaards "Johannes Climacus" og Dr. H. Martensens "Christelige Dogmatik"
1849. C.A. Reitzel, Copenhagen
Published 15 October 1849, a few months after Martensen's »Christelige Dogmatik«. Nielsen's public response to Kierkegaard's »Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift« (1846): he reads Climacus against Martensen to argue that the latter's dogmatics fails "i dens Princip som i dens Problem". The pamphlet that opened the Danish faith/knowledge controversy — and that broke Kierkegaard's confidence in Nielsen. Printed pp. 3–132, Fraktur, continuous review-essay in two halves, hinged at p. 42: the first reads the »Efterskrift« („Har ikke »Johannes Climacus« dialektisk skjærpet det christelige Problem?"), the second Martensen's dogmatics („Har ikke »den christelige Dogmatik« udialektisk omgaaet det christelige Problem?"). Articulated by these display questions and by lettered sub-heads rather than numbered sections. Danish transcription COMPLETE: the whole book, printed pp. 3–132, image-verified page by page against the Google Books scan (77-page LaTeX PDF; requires libertinus + libertinust1math + textalpha for the polytonic Greek). English translation not yet begun.
Evangelietroen og Theologien: Tolv Forelæsninger, holdte ved Universitetet i Kjøbenhavn i Vinteren 1849–50
1850. C.A. Reitzel, Copenhagen
VIII + 174 pp. Twelve lectures delivered in the winter immediately after the »Johannes Climacus« review, and the most compact statement of the position for which Nielsen became the central figure of the mid-century debate: that faith and knowledge rest on absolutely heterogeneous principles, so that theology may not be made a science on the model of the other sciences, and yet nothing in scientific knowing need be surrendered. Priority text for transcription and translation.
Tolv Forelæsninger (pp. 1–174) — transcriptionKB ScanPDFskeleton Et Par Ord i Anledning af Prof. Scharlings Apologie for Dr. Martensens Dogmatik
1850. C.A. Reitzel, Copenhagen
24 pp. Nielsen's reply to C.E. Scharling's defence of Martensen, one of the two 1850 pamphlets (with »Dr. H. Martensens dogmatiske Oplysninger«) continuing the controversy opened by the »Johannes Climacus« review.
Om Theologiens Naturbegreb, med særligt Hensyn til Malebranche
1855. Det Schultziske Officin (Universitetsprogram)
Reformation-festival Indbydelsesskrift, 1855. Danish transcription complete (printed pp. 3–47: the Malebranche essay plus the appended doctoral vitae and festival invitation). English translation covers the treatise (pp. 3–37); the appendix (doctoral vitae + festival invitation, pp. 38–47) is left untranslated by choice.
Philosophie og Mathematik
1857. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Subtitle: 'en propædeutisk Afhandling' (R. Nielsen). ~84 pp. of Fraktur body text, math- and figure-heavy. Complete in full: image-verified Danish transcription (69 pp.) and English translation of the whole book (70 pp.), 19 TikZ figures carried over verbatim.
Philosophisk Propædeutik i Grundtræk
1857. Gyldendal (F. Hegel), Thieles Bogtrykkeri, Copenhagen
R. Nielsen. ~204 pp. of Fraktur prose (some inline math in §§31–32): Indledning; I. Erkjendelseslære; II. Videnskabslære; III. Ideelære; Slutning. Danish transcription COMPLETE (image-verified verbatim, printed pp.3–204; 163-page LaTeX PDF, compiles 0/0/0). English translation COMPLETE (from the verified transcription; foreign quotations kept verbatim with bracketed English).
Om S. Kierkegaards »mentale Tilstand«
1858. Nordisk Universitets-Tidsskrift 1858 (1): 1–29; separate offprint
29 pp. Nielsen's defence of Kierkegaard against the charge that the authorship is to be explained by its author's mental derangement — i.e. an argument that Kierkegaard must be read as a thinker making claims, not as a case to be diagnosed. Short, and directly about the terms on which Kierkegaardian subjectivity can be taken seriously within a scientific culture.
Mathematik og Dialektik
1859. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Grundideernes Logik, vols. I–II
1864–1866. Gyldendal (F. Hegel); Trykt hos J. H. Schultz, Copenhagen
Published in two volumes: Vol. I (1864) and Vol. II (1866). Vol. I (456 pp. of body text) develops only the first Grundidee, Videns Idee; Vol. II (1866) continues the work and is planned for transcription and translation. Danish transcription of Vol. I from the Google Books scan (Fraktur) is COMPLETE and image-verified: the full front matter (Forord + Indledning, pp. VII–XXXIV) plus the entire body pp. 1–456 (ending 'Functionerne af den almindelige Objectivitet ere alle Functioner af subjectiv Viden.'). Compiles cleanly (requires libertinus + libertinust1math + textalpha for the \varkappa symbols and polytonic Greek). Vol. II not yet begun.
Vol. II (1866) — transcription (planned)to do
Svar til Hr. Dr. phil. Pastor Zeuthen i Anledning af hans Sendebrev om Tro og Viden
1866. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
16 pp., published the same year as »Grundideernes Logik« II. A reply to F.L.B. Zeuthen's open letter, and one of the sharpest short statements of the heterogeneity thesis under direct pressure. NOTE the dating: the bibliography below lists a »Svar til Hr. Dr. Phil. Pastor Zeuthen« under 1886, but the Royal Library dates this printing 1866 (Gyldendal), which also fits Zeuthen's dates (1805–1874) and the Tro-og-Viden controversy. The 1886 entry should be checked and probably corrected.
Om den Gode Vilje som Magt i Videnskaben
1867. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Logik og Psychologie
1867. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Lecture course for the university year 1867–68. Note on the KB scans: the Royal Library's digitisations of this course are not the full 477-page volume but the »Omtrykte Blade« (reprinted leaves) — [28] pp. for 1867–68 and a further set for the 1871–72 Cursus. Useful for collation, not as a substitute for the volume.
Om Hindringer og Betingelser for det aandelige Liv i Nutiden
1868. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Religionsphilosophie
1869. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Ide og Virkelighed
1869. For Ide og Virkelighed 1(1): 1–39
Complete essay (pp. 1–39)Journalto do Et Synspunkt for Darwinismen
1873. For Ide og Virkelighed 8(1): 449–459
Natur og Aand
1873. J.H. Schubothe, Copenhagen
Selections (689 pp. total)KB Scanto do Om Betingelserne for en kraftig Villie
1874. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
A contemporary English translation appeared as »The conditions of a powerful will: six lectures« (1882) and is digitised at the Royal Library — a rare case of Nielsen in English in his own lifetime.
Complete workto do
English translation: The conditions of a powerful will (1882)KB ScanPDFreference Gamle og nye Profeter: Seks Forelæsninger
1878. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Philosophiske Grundproblemer
1879. Universitetets Festskrift, Copenhagen
Almindelig Videnskabslære i Grundtræk
1880. Gyldendalske Boghandel, Copenhagen
Om det oprindelige Forhold mellem Religion og Videnskab
1881. Schultz, Copenhagen
University festival address, 8 April 1881.
Forelæsninger over »Philosophisk Propædeutik« (1862), Darwin excerpt
1862. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Pages 326–328: the earliest philosophical engagement with Darwin in the Danish tradition.
Complete bibliography (98 items)
A near-complete list of Rasmus Nielsen's publications and manuscripts. ✦ marks works available in this collection.
Published works
1840De speculativa historiae sacrae tractandae methodo · Fabritius de Tengnagel (ASKB 697) — Danish trans. 1842 as »Om den spekulative Methodes Anvendelse paa den hellige Historie« (B. C. Bøggild).
1841Pauli Brev til Romerne · Private publication
1841–44Den speculative Logik i dens Grundtræk, Hefte 1–4 · Private publication
1843Forelæsningsparagrafer til Kirkehistoriens Philosophie · Private publication
1845Den propædeutiske Logik · P. G. Philipsen
1849Evangelietroen og den moderne Bevidsthed: Forelæsninger over Jesu Liv · C. A. Reitzel
1849Mag. S. Kierkegaards »Johannes Climacus« og Dr. H. Martensens »Christelige Dogmatik«: En undersøgende Anmeldelse · C. A. Reitzel✦ in the collection 1850Evangelietroen og Theologien: Tolv Forelæsninger holdte ved Universitetet i Kjøbenhavn i Vinteren 1849–50 · C. A. Reitzel
1850Dr. H. Martensens dogmatiske Oplysninger · C. A. Reitzel
1850Et Par Ord i Anledning af Prof. Scharlings Apologie for Dr. Martensens Dogmatik · C. A. Reitzel
1853Om Skjæbne og Forsyn · Otto Schwartz
1853Et Levnetsløb i Underverdenen · Otto Schwartz — Published under a pseudonym.
1854Om personlig Sandhed og sand Personlighed: Tolv Forelæsninger for dannede Tilhørere af begge Kjøn, holdte ved Universitetet i Vinteren 1854 · Gyldendal
1855Om Theologiens Naturbegreb med særligt Hensyn til Malebranche: De la recherche de la vérité · Det Schultziske Officin✦ in the collection 1857Philosophisk Propædeutik i Grundtræk · Gyldendal
1857Philosophie og Mathematik: En propædeutisk Afhandling · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1858»Om S. Kierkegaards ‘mentale Tilstand’« · Nordisk Universitets-Tidsskrift 1858 (1): 1–29, A. Ingerslev
1858»Tale ved Reformationsfesten« · Universitetets festskrifter
1859Mathematik og Dialektik: En philosophisk Afhandling · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1860Paa Kierkegaardske »Stadier«: et Livsbillede · Gyldendal
1860Hr. Professor Steens »Afregning«: Hermed en specificeret Opgjørelse til Revision · Gyldendal
1860»Om Begrebet Nøiagtighed med særligt Hensyn paa Hr. Prof. Steens ‘Bidrag’« · Postscript to Philosophie og Mathematik
1862Forelæsninger over »Philosophisk Propædeutik« fra Universitetsaaret 1860–61 · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1863Forelæsninger over »Philosophisk Propædeutik« fra Universitetsaaret 1861–62 · Gyldendal
1863»De stærkeres Ret. Tale ved Reformationsfesten« · Universitetets festskrifter
1864Grundideernes Logik I · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1866Grundideernes Logik II · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1866Propædeutik og Psychologie: Cursus fra Universitetsaaret 1866–67 · Gyldendal
1867Logik og Propædeutik: Cursus for Universitetsaaret 1867–1868 · Gyldendal
1867Om Holbergs Kirkehistorie og Theologie: Et Bidrag fra Fortiden til at belyse Nutiden · Gyldendal
1867»Indledning«, in Holbergs Kirke-historie I · F. L. Liebenberg
1867Om den Gode Vilje som Magt i Videnskaben · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1867Logik og Psychologie: Cursus for Universitetsaaret 1867–68 · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1868Herr Professor Brøchners Philosophiske Kritik · Gyldendal
1868Logik og Psychologie: Cursus for Universitetsaaret 1868–69 · Gyldendal
1868Om Hindringer og Betingelser for det aandelige Liv i Nutiden: Sexten Forelæsninger holdte ved Universitetet i Christiania September–Oktober 1867 · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1869Logik og Psychologie: Cursus for Universitetsaaret 1869–70 · Gyldendal
1869Religionsphilosophie · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1869»Ide og Virkelighed« · For Ide og Virkelighed 1 (1): 1–39, Chr. Steen & Søns Forlag✦ in the collection 1869»To Slags Undervisning I« · For Ide og Virkelighed 1 (1): 297–323
1869»To Slags Undervisning II« · For Ide og Virkelighed 1 (1): 409–441
1869»Om Selvforstaaelse i det Onde, med Henblik paa Shakspeares Richard den Tredie« · For Ide og Virkelighed 1 (1): 521–554
1869»Personlige Grunde« · For Ide og Virkelighed 1 (1): 585–622
1869»Om Sindsformørkelse, Bidrag til Selvmorderes Psykologi« · For Ide og Virkelighed 1 (1): 659–706
1870»Brændende Spørgsmaal« · For Ide og Virkelighed 2 (1): 1–33
1870»Synspunkter for Begrebet: Folkekirke« · For Ide og Virkelighed 2 (1): 105–135
1870»En literær Overraskelse« · For Ide og Virkelighed 2 (1): 193–221
1870»En Fortolkning af den hellige Historie« · For Ide og Virkelighed 2 (1): 289–324
1870»Filosofi og sund Menneskeforstand« · For Ide og Virkelighed 2 (1): 385–406
1870»En Arbeiderforening« · For Ide og Virkelighed 3 (2): 1–38
1870»Aandsvirkelighed« · For Ide og Virkelighed 3 (2): 289–320
1870»Tale ved Festen til Thorvaldsens Minde, den 19de November 1870« · For Ide og Virkelighed 3 (2): 443–456
1870»Om Betydningen af et nordisk Samfund, efter et Foredrag holdt i ‘Nordisk Samfund’ d. 8de Decbr 1870« · For Ide og Virkelighed 3 (2): 465–481
1870Grundideernes Logik i kort Begreb · J. H. Schubothe
1871»Udsigter til en ny Præsteskole« · For Ide og Virkelighed 4 (1): 1–23, Otto B. Wroblewskys Forlag
1871»Samfundets Naturlove« · For Ide og Virkelighed 4 (1): 289–315
1871»Videre om Aandsvirkelighed, foranlediget ved Pastor V. Birkedals og Pastor C. Møllers Indlæg« · For Ide og Virkelighed 5 (2): 1–38
1871»Efter Døden« · For Ide og Virkelighed 5 (2): 193–223
1871Logik og Psychologie: Cursus for Universitetsaaret 1871–72 · J. H. Schubothe
1872»Om Universitetets Stilling til den almindelige Folkedannelse« · For Ide og Virkelighed 6 (1): 1–31, Otto B. Wroblewskys Forlag
1872»Karakter og Villie« · For Ide og Virkelighed 6 (1): 489–517
1872»Biskop Absalon« · For Ide og Virkelighed 7 (2): 215–247
1873»Hvorledes man danner sig en Verdensanskuelse« · For Ide og Virkelighed 8 (1): 1–18, Otto B. Wroblewskys Forlag
1873»Et Synspunkt for Darwinismen« · For Ide og Virkelighed 8 (1): 449–459✦ in the collection 1873Natur og Aand: Bidrag til en med Physiken stemmende Naturphilosophie · J. H. Schubothe✦ in the collection 1874Om Betingelserne for en kraftig Vilje: sex Forelæsninger · J. H. Schubothe✦ in the collection 1875Folkelige Foredrag: Seks Forelæsninger · Gyldendal
1875Om Liv og Haab: Sex Forelæsninger · Gyldendal
1876Om Phantasiens Magt: Sex Forelæsninger · Gyldendal
1877Om Aandsdannelse med særligt Hensyn paa vort Opdragelsesvæsen: Sex Forelæsninger · Gyldendal
1877Om Samfundets Vilkaar: Sex forskellige Foredrag · F. Hegel & Søn
1878Gamle og nye Profeter: Seks Forelæsninger · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1879Adam Oehlenschläger: et Mindeskrift · Gyldendal
1879»Philosophiske Grundproblemer«, in Festskrift i Anledning af Universitetets Firehundredaarsfest, Juni 1879 · Universitetets Festskrift✦ in the collection 1880Om Arbeidets Betydning for det aandelige Liv: Almeenfattelige Foredrag · Gyldendal
1880Almindelig Videnskabslære i Grundtræk · Gyldendal✦ in the collection 1881Om det oprindelige Forhold mellem Religion og Videnskab · J. H. Schultz✦ in the collection 1884Om Betingelserne for en kraftig Villie: Seks Forelæsninger · J. H. Schubothe — Later edition of the 1874 lectures.
1886Svar til Hr. Dr. Phil. Pastor Zeuthen · Gyldendal
Unpublished manuscripts
1839»Forskellige mindre Manuskripter« · NKS 1839 folio
1843»Forelæsninger over Kirkehistoriens Philosophie, 1842–43« · NKS 4677 kvart
1849»Referat af Sibberns og Rasmus Nielsens filosofiske Forelæsninger 1848–49« · NKS 943 oktav
1853»Forelæsninger over den philosophiske Propædeutik, 1852–1853« (a–b) · Additamenta 835 kvart — Transcribed by F. P. J. Dahl. 62 + 62 s.
1861»Professor Rasmus Nielsens Papirer. 3 æsker« · NKS 1761 folio
1862»Forelæsninger over den philosophiske Propædeutik 1861–1862« · Additamenta 808 kvart — Transcribed by S. Heegaard, s. 199–300.
1863»Kirkehistoriens Philosophie. Forelæsninger fra Foraarssem.« (32 Bl.) · Additamenta (Peder Madsen; contents note by F. Torm)
1863»Fr. Hammerich: Den nyeste Tids Kirkehistorie. Foraarssem.« (21 Bl.) · Additamenta 858 kvart (Peder Madsen; F. Torm)
1863»Kirkehistoriens Philosophie. Foraarssem.« (44 Bl.) · Additamenta 859 kvart (Peder Madsen; F. Torm)
1863»Forelæsninger over philosophisk Propædeutik, 1862–1863« (incl. 9 s. of Grundideernes Logik, autumn 1863) · Additamenta 860 kvart (Peder Madsen; F. Torm)
1864»Forelæsninger over Dantes guddommelige Komedie, Jan. 1864« · Additamenta 861 kvart (Peder Madsen)
1868»Forelæsninger over Psychologi 1868–1869« · Additamenta 809–810 kvart
1870»6 Forelæsninger over ‘den sjælelige Modsætning mellem Mand og Kvinde’, 1869–1870« · Additamenta 862 kvart (Peder Madsen; F. Torm)
1870»Propædeutik ved Hans Brøchner og Psykologi og Logik ved Rasmus Nielsen: Forelæsninger 1869–70« · NKS 4788 kvart (Transcribed by U. F. K. Carøe)
1871»J. L. Heibergs Optegnelser efter Forelæsninger« & »Logik ved Rasmus Nielsen, I–II. 2 æsker« · NKS 3170 folio
n.d.»Referater af Rasmus Nielsens Forelæsninger. 9 bd. i æske« · NKS 1058 oktav
n.d.»Fremstilling af Professor Nielsens Betydning« · NKS 1839 folio
n.d.Religionsfilosofi · Collin 90 folio
n.d.Filosofisk Propædeutik i Grundtræk · Collin 395 folio
Harald Høffding (1843–1931)
Nielsen's student and eventual successor as the dominant figure in Danish philosophy. His intellectual development is the key to the whole debate: in 1866 he explicitly defended Nielsen's position, then within a year — under Brøchner's influence — changed his mind completely, spending the next three decades working out what that conversion implied.
Studentnoter fra Rasmus Nielsens kursus om Grundideernes Logik
c. 1864–1866. Manuscript
Høffding's handwritten notes from Nielsen's lectures on Grundideernes Logik.
Complete manuscriptcoming soon
Philosophie og Theologie: en historisk-kritisk Afhandling
1866. Copenhagen
Filosofien og Darwinismen
1874. For Ide og Virkelighed
Psykologi i Omrids paa Grundlag af Erfaring
1882. Philipsen, Copenhagen (2nd ed. 1885)
English translation: Outlines of Psychology (1891).
Realisme i Videnskab og Tro
1882 / 1884. In Mindre Arbejder (1899)
Delivered as lecture 2 September 1882; published revised 1884.
Forholdet mellem Tro og Viden i dets historiske Udvikling
1885. In Mindre Arbejder (1899)
Nietzsche-debatten med Brandes (Høffdings tre indlæg)
1889–1890. Tilskueren, Copenhagen
Transcription-only project. Høffding's three contributions to the 1889–90 Brandes–Høffding debate on Nietzsche; Brandes's three essays are catalogued under Brandes. Translated in full by William Banks, The Great Debate: Nietzsche, Culture, and the Scandinavian Welfare Society (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 2024). Danish running text at henrikpontoppidan.dk; scans in Tilskueren at Project Runeberg.
Gensvar til Dr. Georg Brandes (Tilskueren, Feb.–Mar. 1890, pp. 125–153)Danish textRunebergto do Søren Kierkegaard som Filosof
1892. P.G. Philipsens Forlag, Copenhagen (rev. ed. 1919)
Complete English translation, rendered from the revised 1919 edition (Lindhardt og Ringhof e-book). The Danish text is the publisher's copyrighted edition and is not reproduced here; links point to the public-domain 1892 original and to the publisher's e-book.
Kontinuiteten i Kants filosofiske Udviklingsgang
1893. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter, 6. Række, Historisk og Filosofisk Afdeling, 4(2)
Om Religionsfilosofiens Opgave og Fremgangsmaade
1900. Oversigt over det Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Forhandlinger 1900, Nr. 5
Communicated at the meeting of 2 November 1900 (pp. 411 ff.).
Religionsfilosofi
1901. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
English translation: The Philosophy of Religion (1906).
Filosofiske Problemer
1902. Copenhagen
English version: The Problems of Philosophy (1905), preface by William James.
Vort Hjem
1903. Introduction to Emma Gad, Vort Hjem
Om Begrebet Analogi og dets filosofiske Betydning
1905. In Mindre Arbejder II
Published simultaneously in English in Mind (1905).
Danske Filosoffer
1909. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Portraits of the Danish philosophers — Holberg, Steffens, Ørsted, Grundtvig, Sibbern, Poul Martin Møller, Rasmus Nielsen, Brøchner, Kierkegaard, and others. A clean modern e-book edition exists (SAGA Egmont / Lindhardt & Ringhof), so this is a translation-only project — no transcription needed.
Udvalgte Stykker af dansk filosofisk Litteratur
1910. Gyldendal, Copenhagen (Mindesmærker af Danmarks Nationallitteratur, III)
Høffding's anthology of Danish philosophy, with his own introductions — the companion volume to »Danske Filosoffer« (1909) and the vehicle by which nineteenth-century Danish philosophy was transmitted to the next generation. Section IV, »Den psykologiske Skole (Treschow, Sibbern, Howitz)«, is of particular interest for the line running toward Bohr. Work here is selective: the aim is the *transmission document* — Høffding's editorial framing and the shape of his selection — rather than a re-transcription of excerpts whose originals are already in this catalog. Two findings worth recording. (1) Høffding heads the excerpt from the 1810 essay with a title of his own, »Det Individuelles Uudtømmelighed«, and prints only pp. 225–230 and 235–241 of the original, **cutting pp. 231–234 and 242–254 silently** — so what reached his readers was the epistemology of the limits of general concepts, not the identity-system, and not the thesis (p. 247) that the concept of singular things has objective validity. (2) The second excerpt, »Udviklingslære«, carries no source in the anthology; it is verified here as coming from »Elementer til Historiens Philosophie« (1811).
§ 2 on Sibbern, § 3 on Howitz, and the general Indledningto do
Den menneskelige Tanke, dens Former og dens Opgaver
1910. Copenhagen
Transcription complete (392 pp.). Full English translation complete (Foreword through §162).
Religion og Videnskab
1910. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Religionshistoriske Smaaskrifter, no. 1. 59 pp. A follow-up to Religionsfilosofi (1901). Transcription and translation complete (printed pp. 1–59).
Personlighedsprincippet i Filosofien
1911. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 2013 (Danish trans.)
Six lectures, Helsingfors spring 1911. First published in Swedish; Danish trans. Mogens Blegvad.
Editorial apparatus (Blegvad introduction; Koch commentary & afterword)Source PDFto do Totalitet som Kategori: en erkendelsesteoretisk Undersøgelse
1917. Copenhagen
Oplevelse og Tydning
1919. Gyldendal, Copenhagen
Essay collection, predominantly philosophy of religion — how strong experiences have been interpreted as religious across periods (totemism, witch trials, spiritualism, prophetism, medieval mysticism, the ecstasy of St. Teresa), followed by sociological and religious-philosophical explanations. A clean modern e-book edition exists (SAGA Egmont / Lindhardt & Ringhof, ISBN 9788726363029).
Relation som Kategori: en erkendelsesteoretisk Undersøgelse
1921. Bianco Lunos Bogtrykkeri, Copenhagen
Published in Filosofiske Meddelelser I, 3. Contains engagement with Einstein's relativity.
Relation som Kategori (1921), Høffding's annotated copy
1921. Manuscript marginalia
Pascal et Kierkegaard
1923. Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 30(2): 221–246
Written in French. Systematic comparison in four parts.
Complete article (26 pp.)JSTORto do Begrebet Analogi
1923. Copenhagen
Erkendelsesteori og Livsopfattelse
1925. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Copenhagen
Erindringer
1928. Gyldendalske Boghandel, Copenhagen
Autobiography, published in his 85th year.
IV. 1883–1894 (pp. 121–174)Runebergto do VI. 1904–1914 (pp. 224–265)Runebergto do Brevveksling med Niels Bohr
Manuscript correspondence
Complete correspondencecoming soon
Correspondance entre Harald Høffding et Émile Meyerson
1939. E. Munksgaard, Copenhagen
Published correspondence, in French; xiii + 202 pp. Edited by Frithiof Brandt, Hans Høffding, and J. Adigard des Gautries.
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