Agnes Taubert

Agnes Marie Constanze von Hartmann^[1] (née Taubert; 7 January 1844 – 8 May 1877), who wrote under the name A. Taubert, was a German philosopher and writer. She was married to the philosopher Eduard von Hartmann and was a passionate advocate for his work, Philosophy of the Unconscious (1869). She authored two books that both critiqued and defended his ideas: Philosophie gegen naturwissenschaftliche Ueberhebung ("Philosophy Against the Overreach of Natural Sciences"; 1872) and Der Pessimismus und seine Gegner ("Pessimism and Its Opponents"; 1873). These works played a significant role in the intellectual debates surrounding the pessimism controversy in Germany.

Agnes Taubert
Born	Agnes Marie Constanze Taubert (1844-01-07)7 January 1844 Stralsund, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	8 May 1877(1877-05-08) (aged 33) Berlin, German Empire
Nationality	German
Other names	A. Taubert
Spouse	Eduard von Hartmann ​ (m. 1872)​
Children	1
Philosophical work
Era	19th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Post-Schopenhauerian pessimism
Notable works	Philosophy Against the Overreach of Natural Sciences (1872) Pessimism and Its Opponents (1873)

Biography

Agnes Marie Constanze Taubert^[1] was born on 7 January 1844, in Stralsund, Kingdom of Prussia.^[2] She was the daughter of an artillery colonel,^[3] who was friends with the father of the philosopher Eduard von Hartmann.^[4] In 1872, Taubert married Von Hartmann in Berlin-Charlottenburg and had a child with him.^[5]

Taubert was a staunch supporter of her husband's work, Philosophy of the Unconscious (1869), and wrote two books—both critiquing and defending his ideas—under the pen name A. Taubert.^[6][7] By publishing under a pen name, she was not recognized as a woman philosopher and was instead engaged with as if she were a man.^[8]

Taubert's works, Philosophie gegen naturwissenschaftliche Ueberhebung ("Philosophy Against the Overreach of Natural Sciences"; 1872) and Der pessimismus und seine gegner ("Pessimism and Its Opponents"; 1873), significantly influenced the pessimism controversy in Germany.^[9] In her work, she defines the central problem of philosophical pessimism as "a matter of measuring the eudaimonological value of life in order to determine whether existence is preferable to non-existence or not."^[10] Like her husband, Taubert argued that this question could be answered through empirical observation.^[10]

Taubert died in Berlin, on 8 May 1877,^[2] of "an attack of a rheumatism of the joints",^[9] which was described as "extremely painful".^[11]

Legacy

Taubert has been described as "one of the first women to have a prominent role in a public intellectual debate in Germany".^[7] She has been compared to Olga Plümacher and Amalie J. Hathaway, two contemporary women philosophers who also contributed to the pessimism controversy.^[12][13] Taubert has also been described, along with Olga Plümacher, as a forgotten philosopher of the late 19th century.^[9]

A chapter on Taubert and Plümacher, written by Frederick C. Beiser, was included in the 2024 book, Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Women Philosophers in the German Tradition.^[14]

Works

• Philosophie gegen naturwissenschaftliche ueberhebung: Eine zurechtweisung des dr. med. Geo Stiebeling und seiner angeblichen widerlegung der Hartmann schen lehre vom unbewussten in der leiblichkeit [Philosophy Against the Overreach of Natural Sciences: A Rebuttal to Dr. Geo Stiebeling and His Alleged Refutation of Hartmann’s Doctrine of the Unconscious in Corporality] (in German). Berlin: Duncker. 1872. OCLC 555590478.
• Der pessimismus und seine gegner [Pessimism and Its Opponents] (in German). Berlin: Carl Duncker's verlag (C. Heymons). 1873. OCLC 16408190.