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A celebrated German thinker, one of the four chief metaphysical philosophers of Germany; born at Leonberg, Wurtemberg, Jan. 27, 1775; died at the Ragaz baths, Switzerland, Aug. 20, 1854. His system was at first one of idealistic pantheism, akin to those of Fichte and Hegel; later his views were interpreted as furnishing a philosophic basis for Christianity. He had high poetic gifts. His works include: "On the Possibility of a Form of Philosophy" (1794); "On the Ego as the Principle of Philosophy" (1795); "Ideas for a Philosophy of Nature" (1797); "On the Soul of the World" (1798); "First Sketch of a System of the Philosophy of Nature" (1799); "System of Transcendental Idealism" (1800); "Bruno; or, The Divine and Natural Principle of Things" (1802); "Philosophy and Religion" (1804); "On the Relation of Art to Nature" (1807); "Philosophic Researches on the Essence of Human Liberty" (1809). Four posthumous volumes are of great importance: "Introduction to the Philosophy of Mythology" (1856); "Philosophy of Mythology" (1857); "Philosophy of Revelation", in two divisions, each separately published in 1858.