Hamann Johann Georg (1730–88), German philosopher. Born and educated in Königsberg, Hamann, known as the Magus of the North, was one of the most important Christian thinkers in Germany during the second half of the eighteenth century. Advocating an irrationalistic theory of faith (inspired by Hume), he opposed the prevailing Enlightenment philosophy. He was a mentor of the Sturm und Drang literary movement and had a significant influence on Jacobi, Hegel, and Kierkegaard. As a close acquaintance of Kant, he also had a great impact on the development of Kant’s critical philosophy through his Hume translations. Hamann’s most important works, criticized and admired for their difficult and obscure style, were the Socratic Memorabilia (1759), Aesthetica in nuce (‘Aesthetics in a Nutshell,’ 1762), and several works on language. He suppressed his ‘metacritical’ writings out of respect for Kant. However, they were published after his death and now constitute the bestknown part of his work. M.K.