Herder, Johann Gottfried von (1744–1803)

German poet, critic, and philosopher. Herder's critical writings indicated his intuitive rather than reasoning trend of thought. He collected folk songs of all nations in Stimmen der Völker in Liedern (1778–79), and in the Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit/Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man (1784–91) he outlined the stages of human cultural development. Herder gave considerable impetus to the Sturm und Drang Romantic movement in German literature.

Born in Mohrungen, eastern Prussia, he studied theology at Königsberg, where he was influenced by the philosopher Immanuel Kant. In 1770 he met Goethe and became one of the leaders of the Sturm und Drang movement, publishing a journal with Goethe and others to diffuse the new ideas. In 1776 he became court preacher at Weimar, where he published his collection of folksongs; a celebrated work on Hebrew poetry, Vom Geist der ebräischen Poesie (1782–83); and his masterpiece, Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit.

Herder's first published works were occasional poems and reviews contributed to the Königsbergische Zeitung. He became a pastor in Riga, Latvia, and in 1771 became court preacher at Bückeburg, before being called to Weimar. Among his other works are Kritische Wälder (1769), Plastik (1778), and Über den Ursprung der Sprache (1772), a work on language.