Allgemeine Theorie des Denkens und Empfindens

Johann August Eberhard's Allgemeine Theorie des Denkens und Empfindens (1776), or "General Theory of Thinking and Feeling," advocated for the free examination of religious doctrine and epistemological rationalism, aligning with the philosophies of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Christian Wolff. Eberhard believed that Kant's critical philosophy was unnecessary given the existing work of Leibniz and Wolff. He favored empirical studies in areas like aesthetics and ethics over abstract philosophical speculation. The philosophy of mind, in general, explores fundamental questions about mental phenomena such as thought, feeling, and consciousness, distinguishing philosophical inquiry from empirical psychology.12