The New International Encyclopædia/Hillebrand, Joseph

HILLEBRAND, hĭl'le-bränt, Joseph (1788-1871). A German philosopher and historian of literature, born at Grossdüngen, near Hildesheim. He was originally a Catholic, studied at Hildesheim and at Göttingen, and in 1815 entered the priesthood and taught at Hildesheim, but resigned his position on accepting Protestant views. Upon Hegel's departure from Heidelberg in 1818, he was appointed professor of philosophy there, and in 1822 took a like position at Giessen. He was President of the Lower House of the Hessian Chamber in 1848. His most important work in the field of literary history was Die deutsche Nationallitteratur seit dem Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts (3d ed. 1875). Of less importance are his philosophical works, which show tendencies toward the views of Jacobi: Die Anthropologie als Wissenschaft (1822-23); Lehrbuch der theoretischen Philosophie und philosophischen Propädeutik (1826); Litterarästhetik (1826); Universalphilosophische Prolegomena (1830); Der Organismus der philosophischen Idee (1842); and Philosophie des Geistes (1835).