Christian Garve as philosopher of the enlightenment

In the following text, the aim is to argue that, despite his mistaken positioning in relation to Kant, especially that concerning to moral philosophy, Garve carried out a considerable work in his philosophical, philological and literary activity and occupied an important position, alongside other names, in the context of the German Enlightenment. To this aim, the work is divided into three steps:1) first, the context in which Garve emerged and established himself as a philosopher is characterized and with it also the movement of “Popularphilosophie” in the context of the German Enlightenment; 2) second, Garve’s activities as translator, essayist and thinker are analyzed, in order to understand his position in relation to the field of Philosophy and concerning the issues of his time, and; 3) third, the most central aspects of his conception of moral philosophy are revisited and analyzed.

Key-words:
Garve; Enlightenment; Popular philosophy; empiricism; eudaemonism