Justus Möser was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 jurist and social theorist.

Having studied law

Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...

 at the universities of Jena and Göttingen, he settled in his native town as a lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and was soon appointed advocatus patriae (state attorney) by his fellow citizens. From 1762 to 1768 he was justiciarius (chief justice) of the criminal court in Osnabrück, and in 1768 was made Geheimer Referendar (privy councillor of justice). For 20 years, he was the legal adviser of the lay Protestant bishop of Osnabrück

Bishop of Osnabrück

The Bishop of Osnabrück is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück, the current incumbent is Franz-Josef Hermann Bode. Theodor Kettmann is his auxiliary bishop.- List of Bishops of Osnabrück :*Paul Ludolf Melchers...

, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany

Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany

The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was a member of the Hanoverian and British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son, of King George III...

, a son of George III of the United Kingdom

George III of the United Kingdom

George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...

 and of his Queen consort

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III...

.

In addition to being a statesman and administrator, Möser was also a publicist, historian, and social analyst. His history of Osnabrück (1768; 2nd ed. 1780; 3rd ed. 1819) was and remains highly regarded. In his Patriotische Phantasien (1775-1786; 2nd ed. by his daughter, IWJ von Voigts, 1804; new ed. by Reinhard Zöllner, 1871) he pleaded for a natural, organic development of the state in place of arbitrary laws imposed by the sovereign. Muller (2002) argues that Möser's views on the economic and political aspects of society contrast sharply with those of his much more renowned contemporary, Adam Smith

Adam Smith

Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...

, and anticipate some of the ideas of the German Historical School

German Historical School

The German Historical School of Law is a 19th century intellectual movement in the study of German law. With Romanticism as its background, it emphasized the historical limitations of the law...

 and the social market economy

Social market economy

The social market economy is the main economic model used in West Germany after World War II. It is based on the economic philosophy of Ordoliberalism from the Freiburg School...

. In some ways, Möser can be seen as the German counterpart to Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....

.

Möser's Vermischte Schriften (1797-98, published by Nicolai

Christoph Friedrich Nicolai

Christoph Friedrich Nicolai was a German writer and bookseller.Nicolai was born in Berlin, where his father, Christoph Gottlieb Nicolai , was the founder of the famous Nicolaische Buchhandlung...

with a biography) balances its insights into human nature with humour and witty sallies. He was also a poet of some repute, and in 1749 published a tragedy, Arminius. A statue of him by Drake was unveiled in Osnabrück in 1836.

His collected works in 10 volumes, Sämtliche Werke, were published by B.R. Abeken, 1842-1844.

He was well known for his stance against capitalism.

Authorities

• Kreyssig, J., 1857. Justus Moser.
• Rupprecht, L., 1892. Justus Mösers soziale und volkswirtschaftliche Anschauungen.
• Mollenhauer, K., 1892. Mösers Anteil an der Wiederbelebung des deutschen Geistes.
• Muller, Jerry Z., 2002. The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Western Thought. Anchor Books.

External links