German philosopher and mathematician, born at Breslau; was appointed professor at Halle in 1707, but was in 1723 not only removed from his chair, but banished from Prussia by Frederick William on account of his opinions, which, as fatalistic, were deemed socially demoralising, but was recalled by Frederick the Great on his accession, and afterwards promoted to the rank of baron of the empire; he was a disciple of Leibnitz, and the father of the philosophy that prevailed in Germany before the time of Kant; his merits as a philosopher were threefold: he claimed for philosophy the entire field of knowledge, he paid special attention to method in philosophical speculation, and he first taught philosophy to express itself in German, or made German the philosophical language (1679-1754).