Wilhelm von Humboldt

1767 - 1835

Titles on this disk:

• author: The Sphere and Duties of Government (The Limits of State Action) (1854 ed.)

Quotation:

• (25 July, 2005) Wilhelm von Humboldt argued that freedom was the “Grand and Indispensable Condition” (1792)

About this person:

Described by Hayek as “Germany’s greatest philosopher of freedom” Humboldt wrote a path-breaking defense of the minimal state which had a profound influence on John Stuart Mill. Humboldt later became Director of the Section for Public Worship and Education, in the Ministry of Interior. In this capacity, he directed the reorganization of the Prussian public education system, and, in particular, founded the University of Berlin.