Christian Friedrich Michaelis (philosopher)

Christian Friedrich Michaelis (3 September 1770 - August 1834) was a German philosopher, music aesthete, and essayist.

Life

Michaelis was the son of a doctor and studied at the University of Leipzig from 1787, and in Jena from 1792. In 1793 he became a private lecturer in Leipzig and published numerous philosophical articles and writings, including the work Ueber den Geist der Tonkunst (On the Spirit of Music). He was also a frequent contributor to the music journal Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. His hopes of becoming a professor failed, presumably due to his closeness to Johann Gottlieb Fichte, who was dismissed in 1799 as a result of the atheism controversy.