Hermann Friedrich Wilhelm Hinrichs

Hermann Friedrich Wilhelm Hinrichs (22 April 1794 – 17 September 1861) was a German right Hegelian philosopher. Born in Karlseck, Hohenkirchen, Lower Saxony, Germany, he died in Friedrichroda, Gotha, Thuringia, Germany at the age of 67. Hinrichs was the son of a Protestant pastor and initially studied theology at Strassburg. Following a crisis of faith, he turned to philosophy at Heidelberg, where he studied under Georg Hegel. Hegel wrote a preface to Hinrichs's work 'Religion im innern Verhältniss zur Wissenschaft' (1822), though he found it turgid and difficult to follow. Hinrichs believed that philosophy was superior to theology in knowing and reconciling with God. He became a Privatdozent in 1819 and subsequently held professorships at Breslau (1822) and Halle (1824), which were significant centers of Hegelianism outside of Berlin.