In his fluctuations between materialism and idealism, 

 Wolff was undoubtedly closer to the former. In any case, he 

 repeatedly urged strict and careful investigations of nature. 

 It is not his fault that the general level of philosophy and 

 knowledge of nature at that time did not allow him to develop 

 his efforts into materialistic judgments. It is not his fault 

 that he sometimes was obliged to argue theologically, which, 

 judging from his letters to Haller, did not satisfy him 

 deeply. Now it is impossible to know accurately why Wolff 

 behaved as he did, either because he hoped to convince his 

 opponents with such arguments, or because he was obliged as 

 a result of external circumstances to give his thoughts a 

 form that did not correspond to theirs. In any case it is 

 clear that Wolff never retreated from his scientific beliefs. 



Unrecognized in Germany where he was born and where he 

 spent his youth, Wolff was acknowledged in Russia which can 

 be fairly considered his second motherland. On Wolff's 

 sudden and early death, the Petersburg Academy of Science 

 praised him in a short but condensed obituary, which clearly 

 stated the outstanding services of the late Russian 

 academician. *■* 



13. An obituary in French is published in NOVA ACTA ACAD. 

 SCIENT. PETROPOL., XII (1794), 1801 . A translation of 

 a significant part of this document is given in 

 A. E. Gaissinovich, "K. F. Wolff and teachings about 

 development," pp. 472 - 473. 



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