Herders christlicher Monismus

In an interdisciplinary discourse with Herder research in the fields of German studies and philosophy, Claas Cordemann focuses on Herder as a theologian and shows he was a distinguished philosopher who picked up on the theological debate of his era and was productive in pursuing it. He incorporates Herder's thinking into the philosophical discourse of the 18th century, which is linked to the names of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. Cordemann shows that with his concept of a »Christian monism« Herder was trying to connect the basic insights of a metaphysics inspired by Spinoza to the basic concerns of Christian theology. He makes it clear that Herder's theory of nature, history and culture and his definition of human beings and the history of humanity focus on Christology and are to be understood on the basis of the concept of God.