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Becher, Johann Joachim

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Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences

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Introduction

Best known for his influences on the theory of phlogiston, Johann Joachim Becher (1635–1682) was a seventeenth-century polymath whose works embraced diverse fields such as medicine, chemistry, philology, pedagogy, economical politics, ethics, and theology (Hassinger 1951; Debus 1970; Haltung 2001; Smith 2008). In service to German territorial princes impoverished by the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), Becher pursued empirical study of nature and its practical application in favor of the state economy. His mercantilist politics and activities represented a court culture of that age where natural philosophy – outside of academic institutions – found shelter under the princely patronage, serving its practical and commercial objectives (Frühsorge and Strasser 1993; Smith 1994, 2000).

Life

The son of a Lutheran pastor in Speyer, Becher had little formal education in his formative years. After wandering in Europe to acquire mechanical and chemical expertise, followed by...

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References

Primary Literature

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Secondary Literature

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European-American Culture Department, Seigakuin University, Saitama, Japan

    Amadeo Murase

Authors
  1. Amadeo Murase
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Correspondence to Amadeo Murase .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Dana Jalobeanu

  2. Dept. of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Ghent University Dept. Philosophy & Moral Sci, Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

    Charles T. Wolfe

Section Editor information

  1. Center for the History of Philosophy and Science, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Hiro Hirai

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Murase, A. (2020). Becher, Johann Joachim. In: Jalobeanu, D., Wolfe, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_485-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_485-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20791-9

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