Natur oder Schöpfung?

The time when it seemed that every positive piece of knowledge was considered a burden that only hindered the ship of speculation from sailing swiftly appears to be coming to an end. An increasing conviction is emerging that, although philosophy may not require a so-called positive foundation, nothing secures the philosopher against the danger of losing their footing and falling into nebulous fantasies as thoroughly as solid knowledge.

Among the branches of positive knowledge, it seems to me today that there are primarily two that those who make philosophy their life's work should diligently focus on: these are theological and natural scientific studies. I consider this necessary not only because there is still much work to be done in these areas of philosophy, but also because both, due to their entirely heterogeneous nature, complement each other and belong together just as languages and mathematics do in school.

The philosopher Johann Eduard Erdmann poses the question 'Nature or Creation?' to natural philosophy and the philosophy of religion in his present work.

The Verlag der Wissenschaften publishes historical literature by both well-known and lesser-known scientific authors. This makes works that have long been out of print accessible again to the interested reader. The present book is an unaltered reprint of the historical original edition from 1840.