Poul Martin Møller
Encyclopedia
Poul Martin Møller was a Danish
academic, writer, and poet. During his lifetime, he gained renown in Denmark for his poetry. After his death, his posthumously published fiction and philosophical writings were well received. He also devoted several decades of study to classical language
s and literature. While serving as a professor at the University of Copenhagen
, he was a mentor to the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
.
and raised on the island of Lolland
, where his father served as a pastor. As a young man, his father tutored him in classical languages and literature. In 1812 he enrolled in the University of Copenhagen and studied theology
. He also taught religion at a nearby school during this time. He graduated as the valedictorian
of his class three and a half years later. In 1815 he published his first poem. After a stint as the tutor of two young count
s, he returned to Copenhagen to study classical philology
. After an unsuccessful proposal of marriage
to his childhood sweetheart, he left Copenhagen to serve as the pastor of a ship during its two year journey to China
. While on the journey, he read the complete works of Cicero
, wrote poetry, and wrote in his journal. After returning to Copenhagen, he began teaching Greek and writing poetry and fiction. He later successfully proposed to his first wife, with whom he had four sons. From 1826 to 1832, he taught at the Royal Frederick University in Christiania. Although he rose from assistant professor to full professor, he disliked living in Norway
and returned to Denmark. Although eccentric, notoriously disheveled, and prone to becoming distracted during lessons, his good nature and pleasant disposition allowed him to become a popular teacher. In 1831, he was promoted to Professor Extraordinary at the University of Copenhagen, where he taught Hegel
, classical literature
, and moral philosophy
. His first wife died in 1834, an event which left him shaken to the core and almost unable to function. Two years later, he married a friend of his late wife. He fathered a daughter with his second wife before succumbing to what was most likely liver cancer
in March 1838.
, who often quoted it during lectures. Shortly before his death, he charged his stepbrother Christian Winter and his colleague Fredrick Olsen with the task of publishing his writing posthumously. Although Møller's unfocused nature made this a difficult task, they were eventually able to publish nine volumes by 1850. After these volumes were published, Møller's reputation greatly improved among the Danish public. However, only a small portion of his philosophical writings were able to be published.
. Six years after Møller's death, Kierkegaard dedicated his work The Concept of Anxiety to him with remarks which were unusually personal for Kierkegaard. An unpublished draft of the dedication was even more emphatic, referring to Møller as the "inspiration of my youth" and "the mighty trumpet of my awakening".
In his journals, Kierkegaard notes that Møller provided him advice about the study of philosophy and communication. Part of Møller's influence came through his lectures on moral philosophy and the Greek and Roman classics that Kierkegaard attended while a student at the University of Copenhagen. In addition to classroom instructions, they also frequented Møller's favorite tea house
. Kierkegaard adopted Møller's preferred method of writing, recording his thoughts in a short mixture of poetry and prose, into his own journals. Kierkegaard records that shortly before his death, Møller cautioned him regarding the polemic
al tone that he had adopted. Kierkegaard, however, viewed his tone as consistent with the New Testament
writers.
relationship with Kierkegaard, hence Kierkegaard's description of Møller as, “the confidant of Socrates
”. They often debated the subjects of irony and humor, favorite topics of Kierkegaard's. Although Møller had studied the works of Hegel in great depth, he later became skeptical of Hegel's philosophy
. He felt that Hegel's philosophy was limited because of its abstractness. In his attack on Hegelianism in Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments
, Kirkegaard cites Møller as an opponent of Hegel. Another similarity is the dislike both men felt toward philosophical systems that emphasized thought without feeling. Møller highly valued personal authenticity in philosophy and preferred the use of aphorism
s over discursive arguments. Kierkegaard greatly appreciated the lighthearted satirical tone of Møller's as a departure from the serious scholarly tone of many of their contemporary philosophers.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
academic, writer, and poet. During his lifetime, he gained renown in Denmark for his poetry. After his death, his posthumously published fiction and philosophical writings were well received. He also devoted several decades of study to classical language
Classical language
A classical language is a language with a literature that is classical. According to UC Berkeley linguist George L. Hart, it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich...
s and literature. While serving as a professor at the University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
, he was a mentor to the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
.
Life and career
Møller was born near VejleVejle
Vejle is a town in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle and Grejs Rivers and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality and the Region of Southern Denmark...
and raised on the island of Lolland
Lolland
Lolland is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of 1,243 square kilometers . Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland...
, where his father served as a pastor. As a young man, his father tutored him in classical languages and literature. In 1812 he enrolled in the University of Copenhagen and studied theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. He also taught religion at a nearby school during this time. He graduated as the valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
of his class three and a half years later. In 1815 he published his first poem. After a stint as the tutor of two young count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
s, he returned to Copenhagen to study classical philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
. After an unsuccessful proposal of marriage
Proposal of marriage
A marriage proposal is an event where one person in a relationship asks for the other's hand in marriage. If accepted, it marks the initiation of engagement. It often has a ritual quality, sometimes involving the presentation of an engagement ring and a formalized asking of a question such as "Will...
to his childhood sweetheart, he left Copenhagen to serve as the pastor of a ship during its two year journey to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. While on the journey, he read the complete works of Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, wrote poetry, and wrote in his journal. After returning to Copenhagen, he began teaching Greek and writing poetry and fiction. He later successfully proposed to his first wife, with whom he had four sons. From 1826 to 1832, he taught at the Royal Frederick University in Christiania. Although he rose from assistant professor to full professor, he disliked living in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and returned to Denmark. Although eccentric, notoriously disheveled, and prone to becoming distracted during lessons, his good nature and pleasant disposition allowed him to become a popular teacher. In 1831, he was promoted to Professor Extraordinary at the University of Copenhagen, where he taught Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
, classical literature
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, and moral philosophy
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
. His first wife died in 1834, an event which left him shaken to the core and almost unable to function. Two years later, he married a friend of his late wife. He fathered a daughter with his second wife before succumbing to what was most likely liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
in March 1838.
Writings
While working as a teacher he wrote extensively, working on poetry, a novel, and translating literature into Danish. He published translations of both contemporary and classical authors, including Lord Byron's “The Dream” and a portion of The Odyssey. Due to his habit of writing very slowly and later rewriting his work, he was never able to publish much of his work. The largest work that he published during his lifetime was a translation of the first six books of The Odyssey. He was most successful as a poet; his poem "Joy Over Denmark" became one of the most famous Danish poems. Though unfinished, Møller's novel Adventures of a Danish Student also gained lasting fame. It tells the comedic story of the romantic escapades of an eccentric student and his philosophical musings. Years later it became a favorite book of the Danish physicist and thinker Niels BohrNiels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
, who often quoted it during lectures. Shortly before his death, he charged his stepbrother Christian Winter and his colleague Fredrick Olsen with the task of publishing his writing posthumously. Although Møller's unfocused nature made this a difficult task, they were eventually able to publish nine volumes by 1850. After these volumes were published, Møller's reputation greatly improved among the Danish public. However, only a small portion of his philosophical writings were able to be published.
Relationship with Kierkegaard
Møller is perhaps best known for relationship with Søren Kierkegaard. They first met when Møller was teaching at the University of Copenhagen and they also lived in the same square in Copenhagen from 1836 to 1838. Møller was also well acquainted with Søren's brother PeterPeter Kierkegaard
Peter Christian Kierkegaard , was a Danish theologian, politician and Lutheran bishop of Aalborg from 1857 until 1875, and brother of Søren Kierkegaard. As a theologian of the official church, he had on several occasions criticized his brother's works, notably at the Roskilde Ecclesiastical...
. Six years after Møller's death, Kierkegaard dedicated his work The Concept of Anxiety to him with remarks which were unusually personal for Kierkegaard. An unpublished draft of the dedication was even more emphatic, referring to Møller as the "inspiration of my youth" and "the mighty trumpet of my awakening".
In his journals, Kierkegaard notes that Møller provided him advice about the study of philosophy and communication. Part of Møller's influence came through his lectures on moral philosophy and the Greek and Roman classics that Kierkegaard attended while a student at the University of Copenhagen. In addition to classroom instructions, they also frequented Møller's favorite tea house
Tea house
A tea house or tearoom is a venue centered on drinking tea. Its function varies widely depending on the culture, and some cultures have a variety of distinct tea-centered houses or parlors that all qualify under the English language term "tea house" or "tea room."-Asia:In Central Asia this term...
. Kierkegaard adopted Møller's preferred method of writing, recording his thoughts in a short mixture of poetry and prose, into his own journals. Kierkegaard records that shortly before his death, Møller cautioned him regarding the polemic
Polemic
A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...
al tone that he had adopted. Kierkegaard, however, viewed his tone as consistent with the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
writers.
Philosophy
There is also significant common ground between the philosophical views of Møller and Kierkegaard, in large part due to Møller's tutelage. After Møller's writings were published posthumously, Kierkegaard studied them in great detail. It is generally believed that Møller had a maieuticMaieutics
Maieutics is a pedagogical method based on the idea that the truth is latent in the mind of every human being due to innate reason but has to be "given birth" by answering intelligently proposed questions . The word is derived from the Greek "μαιευτικός", pertaining to midwifery.- Possible origin...
relationship with Kierkegaard, hence Kierkegaard's description of Møller as, “the confidant of Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
”. They often debated the subjects of irony and humor, favorite topics of Kierkegaard's. Although Møller had studied the works of Hegel in great depth, he later became skeptical of Hegel's philosophy
Hegelianism
Hegelianism is a collective term for schools of thought following or referring to G. W. F. Hegel's philosophy which can be summed up by the dictum that "the rational alone is real", which means that all reality is capable of being expressed in rational categories...
. He felt that Hegel's philosophy was limited because of its abstractness. In his attack on Hegelianism in Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments
Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments
Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments is a major work by Søren Kierkegaard. The work is a poignant attack against Hegelianism, the philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel. The work is also famous for its dictum, Subjectivity is Truth...
, Kirkegaard cites Møller as an opponent of Hegel. Another similarity is the dislike both men felt toward philosophical systems that emphasized thought without feeling. Møller highly valued personal authenticity in philosophy and preferred the use of aphorism
Aphorism
An aphorism is an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic and memorable form.The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates...
s over discursive arguments. Kierkegaard greatly appreciated the lighthearted satirical tone of Møller's as a departure from the serious scholarly tone of many of their contemporary philosophers.
External links
- A book of Danish verse (Poul Møller) Translated into English (1922)
- Poul Martin Møller page at Kalliope.org
- Biography at Project Runeberg