Johann Adam Weishaupt was a German philosopher and founder of the Order of
the Illuminati, a secret society. Early life
Adam Weishaupt was born on 6 February 1748 in Ingolstadt in the Electorate of
Bavaria. Weishaupt's father Johann Georg Weishaupt died when Adam was five years
old. After his father's death he came under the tutelage of his godfather
Johann Adam Freiherr von Ickstatt who, like his father, was a professor of law
at the University of Ingolstadt. Ickstatt was a proponent of the
philosophy of Christian Wolff and of the Enlightenment, and he influenced the
young Weishaupt with his rationalism. Weishaupt began his formal education at
age seven at a Jesuit school. He later enrolled at the University of Ingolstadt
and graduated in 1768 at age 20 with a doctorate of law. In 1772 he became a
professor of law. The following year he married Afra Sausenhofer of Eichstätt.
After Pope Clement XIV’s suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, Weishaupt
became a professor of canon law, a position that was held exclusively by
the Jesuits until that time. In 1775 Weishaupt was introduced to the
empirical philosophy of Johann Georg Heinrich Feder of the University of
Göttingen. Both Feder and Weishaupt would later become opponents of Kantian
idealism. Founder of the Illuminati
At a time, however, when there was no end of making game of and abusing secret
societies, I planned to make use of this human foible for a real and worthy goal,
for the benefit of people. I wished to do what the heads of the ecclesiastical
and secular authorities ought to have done by virtue of their offices ...
On May day 1776 Johann Adam Weishaupt founded the "Illuminati" in the
Electorate of Bavaria. He adopted the name of "Brother Spartacus" within the
order. Even Encyclopedia references vary on the goal of the order, such as New
Advent saying the Order was not egalitarian or democratic internally,
and sought to promote the doctrines of equality and freedom throughout society;
while others like Collier's have said the aim was to combat religion and
foster rationalism in its place. The actual character of the society was
an elaborate network of spies and counter-spies. Each isolated cell of
initiates reported to a superior, whom they did not know: a party structure
that was effectively adopted by some later groups.
Weishaupt was initiated into the Masonic Lodge "Theodor zum guten Rath", at
Munich in 1777. His project of "illumination, enlightening the
understanding by the sun of reason, which will dispel the clouds of
superstition and of prejudice" was an unwelcome reform. He used Freemasonry to
recruit for his own quasi-masonic society, with the goal of "perfecting
human nature" through re-education to achieve a communal state with nature,
freed of government and organized religion. Presenting their own system as
pure masonry, Weishaupt and Adolph Freiherr Knigge, who organised his
ritual structure, greatly expanded the secret organisation.
Contrary to Immanuel Kant's famous dictum that Enlightenment was the
passage by man out of his 'self-imposed immaturity' through daring to 'make use
of his own reason, without the guidance of another,' Weishaupt's Order of
Illuminati prescribed in great detail everything which the members had
obediently to read and think, so that Dr. Wolfgang Riedel has commented that
this approach to illumination or enlightenment constituted a degradation
and twisting of the Kantian principle of Enlightenment. Riedel writes: 'The
independence of thought and judgement required by Kant ... was specifically
prevented by the Order of the Illuminati's rules and regulations.
Enlightenment takes place here, if it takes place at all, precisely under the
direction of another, namely under that of the "Superiors" [of the Order].
Weishaupt's radical rationalism and vocabulary was not likely to succeed.
Writings that were intercepted in 1784 were interpreted as seditious, and the
Society was banned by the government of Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria, in
1784. Weishaupt lost his position at the University of Ingolstadt and fled
Bavaria. Activities in exile
He received the assistance of Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, and
lived in Gotha writing a series of works on illuminism, including A Complete
History of the Persecutions of the Illuminati in Bavaria, A Picture of
Illuminism, An Apology for the Illuminati, and An Improved System of
Illuminism. Adam Weishaupt died in Gotha on 18 November 1830. He was survived by
his second wife, Anna Maria, and his children Nanette, Charlotte, Ernst,
Karl, Eduard, and Alfred. Weishaupt was buried next to his son Wilhelm who
preceded him in death in 1802. After Weishaupt's Order of Illuminati
was banned and its members dispersed, it left behind no enduring traces of an
influence, not even on its own erstwhile members, who went on in the future to
develop in quite different directions. Assessment of character and intentions
Weishaupt's character and intentions have been variously assessed: from those
such as the Abbé Barruel and John Robison who regarded him as a 'human
devil' and saw his mission as one of malevolent destructiveness, to those who
view him as a humane and benign, albeit wilful, social reformer. Writing on this
topic, Dr. Tony Page comments: "Weishaupt’s plan was to educate
Illuminati followers in the highest levels of humanity and morality, so that
if Illuminati alumni subsequently attained positions of significance and
power, they could exert a benevolent and uplifting influence upon society at
large. His project was utopian and naively optimistic, and he himself was
certainly not without flaws of character – but neither he nor his plan was evil
or violent in and of themselves. It is one of the deplorable and tragic ironies
of history that a man who tried to inculcate virtue, philanthropy, social
justice and morality has become one of the great hate-figures of 21st-century
‘conspiracy’ thinking." Adam Weishaupt in pop culture
Adam Weishaupt is referred to repeatedly in The Illuminatus! Trilogy, written by
Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, as the founder of the Illuminati and as an
imposter who killed George Washington and took his place as the first
president of the United States. Washington's portrait on the U.S.
one-dollar bill is said to actually be Weishaupt's.
Another version of Adam Weishaupt appears in the extensive comic book
novel Cerebus the Aardvark by Dave Sim, as a combination of Weishaupt and George
Washington. He appears primarily in the Cerebus and Church & State I volumes.
His motives are republican confederalizing of city-states in
Estarcion and the accumulation of capital unencumbered by government or
church. Weishaupt's name is one of many
references made to the Illuminati and other conspiracies in the video game
Deus Ex. The protagonist uncovers a virus engineered by the VersaLife
Corporation with its molecular structure in multiples of 17 and 23. An ally of
the protagonist notes "1723. The birth of Adam Weishaupt" even though this
reference is actually incorrect as Weishaupt was born in 1748.
Adam Weishaupt is also mentioned by the New York rapper Cage in El-P's
"Accidents Don't Happen", the ninth track on his album Fantastic Damage.
Adam Weishaupt is briefly mentioned in Umberto Eco's novel The Prague Cemetery.
Works = Philosophical works=
(1775) De Lapsu Academiarum Commentatio Politica.
(1786) Über die Schrecken des Todes – eine philosophische Rede.
(French) Discours Philosophique sur les Frayeurs de la Mort. Gallica
(1786) Über Materialismus und Idealismus. Torino
(1788) Geschichte der Vervollkommnung des menschlichen Geschlechts.
(1788) Über die Gründe und Gewißheit der Menschlichen Erkenntniß.
(1788) Über die Kantischen Anschauungen und Erscheinungen.
(1788) Zweifel über die Kantischen Begriffe von Zeit und Raum.
(1793) Über Wahrheit und sittliche Vollkommenheit.
(1794) Über die Lehre von den Gründen und Ursachen aller Dinge.
(1794) Über die Selbsterkenntnis, ihre Hindernisse und Vorteile.
(1797) Über die Zwecke oder Finalursachen.
(1802) Über die Hindernisse der baierischen Industrie und Bevölkerung.
(1804) Die Leuchte des Diogenes. (1817) Über die Staats-Ausgaben und
Auflagen. Google Books (1818) Über das Besteuerungs-System.
= Works relating to the Illuminati= (1786) Apologie der Illuminaten.
(1786) Vollständige Geschichte der Verfolgung der Illuminaten in Bayern.
(1786) Schilderung der Illuminaten. (1787) Einleitung zu meiner Apologie.
(1787) [Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens...]
(1787) [Nachtrage von weitern Originalschriften...] Google Books
(1787) Kurze Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten.
(1787) Nachtrag zur Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten.
(1787) Apologie des Mißvergnügens und des Übels.
(1787) Das Verbesserte System der Illuminaten.
(1788) Der ächte Illuminat, oder die wahren, unverbesserten Rituale der
Illuminaten. (1795) Pythagoras, oder Betrachtungen
über die geheime Welt- und Regierungs-Kunst.
= Works by Adam Weishaupt in English translation=
(2008) Diogenes’ Lamp, or an Examination of Our Present Day Morality and
Enlightenment, translated by Amelia Gill, The Masonic Book Club.
(2014) A Brief Justification of My Intentions: Casting Light on the Latest
Original Writings, translated by Dr. Tony Page, Justice Publications, Amazon
Kindle. (2014) Supplement to the Justification
of My Intentions, translated by Dr. Tony Page, Justice Publications, Amazon
Kindle. (2015) The Secret School of Wisdom: The
Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati, translated by Jeva
Singh-Anand, edited by Josef Wäges and Reinhard Markner, London: Lewis Masonic,
447 pp. Notes
External links (German) Biography in Allgemeine
Deutsche Biographie Vol. 41, pp. 539–550 by Daniel Jacoby.
A Bavarian Illuminati primer by Trevor W. McKeown.
Illuminati entry in The Catholic Encyclopedia, hosted by New Advent.