Johann Heinrich Bisterfeld

Johann Heinrich Bisterfeld (1605 – 16 February 1655) was a German polymath, active as a philosopher, logician and encyclopedic writer from Siegen.[1] A follower of Ramus and pupil of Johann Heinrich Alsted at the Herborn Academy (Academia Nassauensis),[2] Bisterfeld became head of the academy in Weissenburg (Alba Iulia) in Transylvania, where he died.

Works

  • Philosophiae primae seminarium, 1652 ( second edition: Lugduni Batavorum, 1657).
  • Elementorum logicorum libri tres, Lugduni Batavorum, 1657.[3]
  • Bisterfeldius redivivus, Hagae-Comitum, 1661, appeared posthumously in two volumes, the first being Alphabeti philosophici libri tres, on universal language and the second Logica disputandi; this work is considered an influence on Leibniz.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ Paolo Rossi, Logic and the Art of Memory: The Quest for a Universal Language, London: Athlone Press, 2000, pp.142-144.
  2. ^ In the list Herborn School 1613-9 pupils, as Bisterfeldius, with mention of later position at Alba Iulia.
  3. ^ These two works were annotated by the young Leibniz (1663-1666): Akademie Ausgabe VI, 1, pp. 151-162.
  4. ^ Contributors to the Universal Language