Christian Wolff und der physiko-theologische Beweis

The physico-theological argument is a privileged perspective to understand the German Enlightenment, from Wolff to Kant. Wolff had criticized this argument since his Ratio praelectionum (1717). His criticisms have provoked the Pietists of Halle, who accused him of atheism. Wolff responds by claiming that even the Aristotelian-Thomist tradition had emphasized the fact that the different proofs of God's existence cannot be treated as equivalent. In general, Wolff's does not intend to exclude any of the arguments proving God's existence. His aim is rather to include them in a systematic overview within which the a posteriori argument plays a prominent role.