Lorhard, Jacob

Jacob Lorhard was born in the city of Münsingen (Switzerland). In 1603, he became rector of a gymnasium in St. Gallen . In 1606, he published the work Ogdoas scholastica , which featured the word " ontologia ", which first appeared in this book. The author used the word "Ontologia" synonymously with the word "Metaphysica". The following year, he received an offer to become a professor of theology in Marburg . At the same time, a professor of logic, ethics and mathematics worked in Marburg, a representative of the late Protestant neo-scholasticism, a follower of the teachings of Philip Melanchthon, Rudolf Golenius (1547-1628). Lorhard and Goklenius apparently met in 1607, exchanged views with each other. For some reason, Lorhard’s stay in Marburg was brief, and he soon returned to his former position in St. Gallen. Lorhard died on May 19, 1609.

In 1613, the second edition of Lorhard’s book, entitled Theatrum philosophicum , was published. In this edition, the word "ontologia" did not appear on the cover, but was retained within the book. In the same year, Goklenius described the term in his “Philosophical Dictionary” of the Lexicon philosophicum as follows: “Ontologia, philosophia de ente” (ie, “ontology, philosophy of being”).

The views of Lorhard were influenced by the works of Pierre de la Ramet (1515 - 1572), which turned dialectical reasoning into a single method of pedagogical logic, supplementing them with special diagrams . Lorhard believed that students would gain a deeper understanding of ontological truth by looking at such diagrams. Gradually, these teaching methods began to spread in Europe , so the Danish professor Jens Kraft (1720 - 1756) used them at school to educate young people. Kraft believed that a deeper understanding of ontological schemes would help students become better ethically, as well as have a deeper understanding of the world .

In the modern sense, ontology is a doctrine of the totality of various manifestations of objective reality, a doctrine of being. This is a branch of philosophy that studies the basic principles of being, general essences and categories of things. Ontology is a theory that studies objects in their mutual influence. The main question of the ontology: “What exactly actually exists?” The ontology describes the main criteria for distinguishing different types of objects (concrete and abstract, existing and non-existent, real and ideal, independent and dependent) and their mutual relations (relations, conditionality and prediction).

The main problems that the ontology considers are:

• Justification of the external (ontological) existence of physical objects in the status of knowledge.
• Justification of the ontological existence of metaphysical objects in the status of knowledge.

Three levels of ontology are distinguished: formal, descriptive, and formalized.

• Disputatio de vera et Aristotelica methodo demonstrandi , Dissertation. Tubingae: Gruppenbach, 1595. OCLC 245988900
• Liber de adeptione veri necessarii seu apodictici ... , Tubingæ, 1597. OCLC 22740196
• Ogdoas Scholastica, continens Diagraphen Typicam artium: Grammatices (Latinae, Graecae), Logices, Rhetorices, Astronomices, Ethices, Physices, Metaphysices, seu Ontologiae , Sangalli: Apud Georgium Straub, 1606. OCLC 41227134
• Theatrum philosophicum, continens Grammaticen Latinam, Graecam, et Hebraeam, Logicen, Rhetoricen, Arithmeticen, Geometriam, Musicen, Astronomicen, Ethicen, Physicen, Metaphysicen seu Ontologiam , Basileæ, 1613. OCLC 186897020 (second edition ofg)

• Gaidenko, P.P. Breakthrough to the Transcendental. New ontology of the XX century / P.P. Gaidenko. M.: Republic, 1997 .-- 495 p.
• Gubin, V.D. Ontology. The problem of being in modern European philosophy / V. D. Gubin. - M.: RSUH, 1998 .-- 191 p.
• Kagan, M. S. Metamorphoses of being and non-being. To the formulation of the question / M.S. Kagan // Questions of philosophy. - 2001. - No. 6. - S. 52-67.
• Sartre, J.-P. Being and Nothing: The Experience of Phenomenological Ontology / J.-P. Sartre per. with fr., foreword, note. IN AND. Christmas carol. - M.: TERRA- Book Club; Republic, 2002 .-- 640 p. - (Library of philosophical thought).

• Ogdoas Scholastica English translation by Sara L. Uckelman of Chapter 8
• Jacob Lorhard's Ontology: a 17th Century Hypertext on the Reality and Temporality of the World of Intelligibles Peter Øhrstrøm
• The Development of Ontology from Suarez to Kant accessed May 2, 2009