Privat-Vorlesungen über reine und angewandte Staats-Oekonomie nach Grundsätzen der kritischen Philosophie.

Kantian philosophy applied to political economy

First and only edition of this scarce work on the application of Kantian critical philosophy to political economy.

The popularization of Kantian philosophy in the 1790s exercised a broad influence on the development of economic science and market liberalism in Germany. For those involved in studying political economy, "the analysis of reason and understanding presented by Kant, whereby the conditions of knowledge were located in the individual, lent itself to a conception of sociability based on calculating subjects" (Tribe, p. 156). Importantly, Adam Smith's ideas had hitherto had limited impact in Germany, despite a German translation in 1776. Simultaneous with the acceptance of Kant's ideas, Smith's system became better received: "its subsequent positive reception was closely linked to the acceptance of Critical Philosophy" (ibid., p. 157).

The author Friedrich Karl Gavard (1738-1805) was a private lecturer at the University of Würzburg; he published several works in the 1790s. He opens this book with an extract of a letter sent to the French revolutionary government, stating the need for a renewed science of government, before outlining key Kantian principles and their relevance to political economy.

Scarce, with WorldCat locating eight copies only, all in German institutions.