Mendelsohn, Moses
Mendelsohn, Moses
(1729-1786) A German Jewish popular philosopher, holding an admired position in German literature. He was the first to advocate the social emancipation of the Jews, to plead in Germany for the separation of the Church and the State and for freedom of belief and conscience. He is philosrohically best known for his adduced proofs of the immortality of the soul and of the existence of a personal God. Schriften z. Philos., Aesthetik u. Apologetik (ed. Brasch, 1880). — H.H.