Adam Weishaupt

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Adam Weishaupt
Johann Adam Weishaupt

Adam Weishaupt
Full name Johann Adam Weishaupt
Born 6 February 1748 (Ingolstadt, Bavaria)
Died 18 November 1830 (aged 82) (Gotha, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha)
Era 18th-century philosophy
Region Western Philosophy
School Empiricism
Main interests Epistemology, Metaphysics, Ethics
Influenced by[show]
Influence on[show]
Johann Adam Weishaupt (6 February 1748 in Ingolstadt – 18 November 1830[1][2][3][4] in Gotha) was a German philosopher and founder of the Order of Illuminati, a secret society with origins in Bavaria.

Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Founder of the Illuminati
3 Activities in exile
4 Contemporary Opinion
5 Quotes about Weishaupt
6 References in pop culture
7 Works
7.1 On the Illuminati
7.2 Philosophical works
8 Notes
9 External links
Early life



Adam Weishaupt was born on 6 February 1748 in Ingolstadt[1][5] in the Electorate of Bavarian. Weishaupt's father Johann Georg Weishaupt (1717–1753) died[5] when Adam was five years old. After his father's death he came under the tutelage of his godfather Johann Adam Freiherr von Ickstatt[6] who, like his father, was a professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt.[7] Ickstatt was a proponent of the philosophy of Christian Wolff and of the Enlightenment,[8] and he influenced the young Weishaupt with his rationalism. Weishaupt began his formal education at age seven[1] at a Jesuit school. He later enrolled at the University of Ingolstadt and graduated in 1768[9] at age 20 with a doctorate of law.[10] In 1772[11] he became a professor of law. The following year he married Afra Sausenhofer[12] of Eichstätt.

After Pope Clement XIV’s suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, Weishaupt became a professor of canon law,[13] a position that was held exclusively by the Jesuits until that time. In 1775 Weishaupt was introduced[14] to the empirical philosophy of Johann Georg Heinrich Feder[15] of the University of Göttingen. Both Feder and Weishaupt would later become opponents of Kantian idealism.[16]

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 ...[17]
On 1 May 1776 Weishaupt formed the "Order of Perfectibilists". He adopted the name of "Brother Spartacus" within the order. Though the Order was not egalitarian or democratic, its mission was the abolition of all monarchical governments and state religions in Europe and its colonies.[18]

Weishaupt wrote: "the ends justified the means."[citation needed] 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.[18]

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.[18] Soon however he had developed gnostic mysteries of his own, with the goal of "perfecting human" nature through re-education to achieve a communal state with nature, freed of government and organized religion. He began working towards incorporating his system of Illuminism with that of Freemasonry.[18]

He wrote: "I did not bring Deism into Bavaria more than into Rome. I found it here, in great vigour, more abounding than in any of the neighboring Protestant States. I am proud to be known to the world as the founder of the Illuminati."[citation needed]

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.[18]

Activities in exile

He received the assistance of Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1745–1804), and lived in Gotha writing a series of works on illuminism, including A Complete History of the Persecutions of the Illuminati in Bavaria (1785), A Picture of Illuminism (1786), An Apology for the Illuminati (1786), and An Improved System of Illuminism (1787). Adam Weishaupt died in Gotha on 18 November 1830.[1][2][3][4] He was survived by his second wife, Anna Maria (née Sausenhofer), and his children Nanette, Charlotte, Ernst, Karl, Eduard, and Alfred.[2] Weishaupt was buried next to his son Wilhelm who preceded him in death in 1802.

Contemporary Opinion

Main article: Illuminati
John Robison, a professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh University in Scotland and a member of a Freemason Lodge there, said he had been asked to join the Illuminati. After consideration he concluded that the Illuminati were not for him. In 1798 he published a book called Proofs of a Conspiracy in which he wrote: "An association has been formed for the express purposes of rooting out all the religious establishments and overturning all existing governments ... the leaders would rule the World with uncontrollable power, while all the rest would be employed as tools of the ambition of their unknown superiors." This book was sent to George Washington, who replied:

It was not my intention to doubt that, the Doctrines of the Illuminati, and principles of Jacobinism had not spread in the United States. On the contrary, no one is more truly satisfied of this fact than I am. The idea that I meant to convey, was, that I did not believe that the Lodges of Free Masons in this Country had, as Societies, endeavoured to propagate the diabolical tenets of the first, or pernicious principles of the latter (if they are susceptible of separation).[19][20]
Quotes about Weishaupt

Wishaupt [sic] seems to be an enthusiastic Philanthropist. He is among those (as you know the excellent [Richard] Price and [Joseph] Priestley also are) who believe in the indefinite perfectibility of man. He thinks he may in time be rendered so perfect that he will be able to govern himself in every circumstance so as to injure none, to do all the good he can, to leave government no occasion to exercise their powers over him, & of course to render political government useless.
—Thomas Jefferson[21]
Wishaupt [sic] believes that to promote this perfection of the human character was the object of Jesus Christ. That his intention was simply to reinstate natural religion, & by diffusing the light of his morality, to teach us to govern ourselves. His precepts are the love of god & love of our neighbor. And by teaching innocence of conduct, he expected to place men in their natural state of liberty & equality. He says, no one ever laid a surer foundation for liberty than our grand master, Jesus of Nazareth. He believes the Free masons were originally possessed of the true principles & objects of Christianity, & have still preserved some of them by tradition, but much disfigured. The means he proposes to effect this improvement of human nature are "to enlighten men, to correct their morals & inspire them with benevolence. Secure of our success, sais he, we abstain from violent commotions. To have foreseen, the happiness of posterity & to have prepared it by irreproachable means, suffices for our felicity. The tranquility of our consciences is not troubled by the reproach of aiming at the ruin or overthrow of states or thrones." As Wishaupt [sic] lived under the tyranny of a despot & priests, he knew that caution was necessary even in spreading information, & the principles of pure morality. He proposed therefore to lead the Free masons to adopt this object & to make the objects of their institution the diffusion of science & virtue. He proposed to initiate new members into his body by gradations proportioned to his fears of the thunderbolts of tyranny. This has given an air of mystery to his views, was the foundation of his banishment, the subversion of the masonic order, & is the colour for the ravings against him of Robinson, Barruel & Morse, whose real fears are that the craft would be endangered by the spreading of information, reason, & natural morality among men. This subject being new to me, I have imagined that if it be so to you also, you may receive the same satisfaction in seeing, which I have had in forming the analysis of it: & I believe you will think with me that if Wishaupt [sic] had written here, where no secrecy is necessary in our endeavors to render men wise & virtuous, he would not have thought of any secret machinery for that purpose.
—Thomas Jefferson[21]
References 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 Bavarian 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 (a pseudo-Europe) and the accumulation of capital unencumbered by government or church.

Weishaupt is also mentioned among the mish-mash of complicated conspiracies in the PC game Deus Ex. During JC Denton's escape from Versalife labs in Hong Kong, he recovers a virus engineered with the molecular structure in multiples of 17 and 23. Tracer Tong notes "1723... the birthdate of Adam Weishaupt" Weishaupt was in fact born in 1748. However 1723 was the year that Weishaupt's freemasonry lodge, "Theodor zum guten Rath", was founded.

Adam Weishaupt is also mentioned ("Bush got a ouija to talk to Adam Weishaupt") by the New York rapper Cage in El-P's "Accidents Don't Happen", the ninth track on his album Fantastic Damage (2002).

Works

On 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 Regierungskunst.

Illuminati

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The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened") is a name given to several groups, both historical and modern,

and both real and fictitious. Historically, the name refers specifically to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era

secret society founded on May 1, 1776.

In modern times it is also used to refer to a purported conspiratorial organization which acts as a shadowy "power behind the

throne", allegedly controlling world affairs through present day governments and corporations, usually as a modern

incarnation or continuation of the Bavarian Illuminati. In this context, the Illuminati are believed to be the masterminds

behind events that will lead to the establishment of a New World Order.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Barruel and Robison
3 New England Illuminati scare
4 Modern Illuminati
5 Popular culture
6 Illuminati in conspiracy theory
7 References
8 Other Reading
9 External links
History

The movement was founded on May 1, 1776, in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria) as the Order of the Illuminati, with an initial

membership of five,[1] by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt (d. 1830),[2] who was the first lay professor of canon law at the

University of Ingolstadt.[3] The movement was made up of freethinkers as an offshoot of the Enlightenment, and seems to have

been modeled on the Freemasons.[4]

Originally Weishaupt had planned the order to be named the "Perfectibilists".[1] The group has also been called the Bavarian

Illuminati and the movement itself has been referred to as Illuminism. In 1777, Karl Theodor became ruler of Bavaria. He was

a proponent of Enlightened Despotism and, in 1784, his government banned all secret societies, including the Illuminati.

Many influential intellectuals and progressive politicians counted themselves as members, including Ferdinand of Brunswick

and the diplomat Xavier von Zwack, who was number two in the operation and was found with much of the group's literature when

his home was searched.[5] The Illuminati's members took a vow of secrecy and pledged obedience to their superiors. Members

were divided into three main classes, each with several degrees.

The order had its branches in most countries of the European continent; it reportedly had around 2,000 members over the span

of ten years.[3] The organization had its attraction for literary men, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann

Gottfried Herder, and even for the reigning dukes of Gotha and Weimar. Weishaupt modeled his group to some extent on

Freemasonry, and many Illuminati chapters drew membership from existing Masonic lodges. Internal rupture and panic over

succession preceded its downfall, which was effected by the Secular Edict made by the Bavarian government in 1785.[3]

According to J.M. Roberts, the March 2, 1785 edict "seems to have been deathblow to the Illuminati in Bavaria." Meanwhile,

Weishaupt had fled, and documents and internal correspondences, seized in 1786 and 1787, were subsequently published by the

government in 1787.[6]

Barruel and Robison

Between 1797 and 1798 Augustin Barruel's Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism and John Robison's Proofs of a

Conspiracy both publicized the theory that the Illuminati had survived and represented an ongoing international conspiracy,

including the claim that it was behind the French Revolution. Both books proved to be very popular, spurring reprints and

paraphrases by others[7] (a prime example is Proofs of the Real Existence, and Dangerous Tendency, Of Illuminism by Reverend

Seth Payson, published in 1802).[8] Some response was critical, such as Jean-Joseph Mounier's On the Influence Attributed to

Philosophers, Free-Masons, and to the Illuminati on the Revolution of France.[citation needed]

New England Illuminati scare

Robison and Barruel's works made their way to the United States. Across New England, Reverend Jedidiah Morse and others

sermonized against the Illuminati, their sermons printed, and the matter followed in newspapers. The concern died down in the

first decade of the 1800s, though had some revival during the Anti-Masonic movement of the 1820s and 30s.[1]

Modern Illuminati

Main article: New World Order (conspiracy theory)
Writers such as Mark Dice,[9] David Icke, Texe Marrs, Ryan Burke, Jüri Lina and Morgan Gricar have argued that the Bavarian

Illuminati survived, possibly to this day. Many of these theories propose that world events are being controlled and

manipulated by a secret society calling itself the Illuminati.[10][11] Conspiracy theorists have claimed that many notable

people were or are members of the Illuminati. Presidents of the United States are a common target for such claims.[12][13]

In addition to the shadowy and secret organization, several modern fraternal groups claim to be the "heirs" of the Bavarian

Illuminati and have openly used the name "Illuminati" in founding their own rites. Some, such as the multiple groups that

call themselves some variation on "The Illuminati Order,"[14][15] use the name directly in the name of their organization,

while others, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, use the name as a grade of initiation within their organization.

Popular culture

Main article: Illuminati in popular culture
The Illuminati are a recurring theme in popular culture. References to such an organization appear in many fictional works

across many genres, appearing in novels like The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, Dan Brown's

Angels & Demons, The Fallen Angels by Susannah Kells & Bernard Cornwell, and The Illuminati by Larry Burkett; in films like

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, on television as in the Disney animated television show Gargoyles; in video games such as Deus Ex;

in comic book series like New Avengers: Illuminati; as well as in both trading card and roleplaying games like

Götterdämmerung.[16]

Illuminati in conspiracy theory

A key figure in the conspiracy theory movement, Myron Fagan, devoted his latter years to finding evidence that a variety of

historical events from Waterloo, The French Revolution, President John F. Kennedy's assassination and the communist plot to

hasten the New World Order by infiltrating the Hollywood film industry, were all orchestrated by the Illuminati.[17] [18]

It is to be noted that the main groundswell of interest in the Illuminati and the assertions that it exists today began after

the publication of The Illuminatus trilogy, written in the 1970s by two then Playboy associate editors, Robert Shea and

Robert Anton Wilson[19].[20] A post-modern science fiction work, the trilogy looked at the Illuminati's plot to rule the

world, whilst fighting opposition.

Modern theorists have incorporated these fictional ideas, with ever more bizarre twists. One Dr. John Coleman in "Targets of

the Illuminati and the Committee of 300[21]" asserts that the Illuminati's intentions include: [22] [23]

The establishment of a One World Government with a unified church and monetary system.
Further advancement of ideas through mind control.
Legalization & encouragement of the use of drugs and pornography.
Suppression of all scientific advancement unless they considered it acceptable to their aims.
To cause a total collapse of the world's economies and engender total political chaos.
To take control of all Foreign and domestic policies of the United States.
To keep people everywhere from deciding their own destinies by means of one created crisis after another and then managing

such crises.
To weaken the (moral fiber) of the nation and to demoralize workers in the (labor class) by creating mass unemployment.
The utter destruction of all national identity and national pride.
Fracturing of the nuclear family by encouraging teenagers to rebel.
Use and promotion of rock music to facilitate this rebellion which include rock gangsters such as the Rolling Stones.
The destruction of religions.
An end to all industrialization and the production of nuclear generated electric power in what they call "The Post-Industrial

Zero-Growth Society".
Penetrate and subvert all governments, and work from within them to destroy the sovereign integrity of nations represented by

them.
Organize a world-wide terrorist apparatus and negoti- ate with terrorists whenever terrorist activities take place.
Take control of education in America with the intent and purpose of utterly and completely destroying it.
To press for the spread of religious cults such as the Moslem Brotherhood, Moslem fundamentalism, the Sikhs, and to carry out

experiments of the Jim Jones and Son of Sam type of murders.
To export "religious liberation" ideas around the world so as to undermine all existing religions but more especially the

Christian religion.
Depopulation of large cities according to the trial run carried out by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. Pol Pot's (genocidal

plans)were drawn up in the United States by one of the Club of Rome's research foundations.
To give the fullest support to supranational institutions such as the United Nations(UN), The International Monetary Fund

(IMF), The Bank of International Settlements(BIS), The World Court and, as far as possible, make local institutions of lesser

effect by gradually phasing them out or bringing them under the mantle of the United Nations.
Cause by means of limited wars in the advanced countries, and by means of starvation and diseases in Third World countries,

the death of 3 billion people by the year 2000 & the population of the United States is to be reduced by 100 million by the

year 2050. The Committee of 300 commissioned Cyrus Vance to write a paper on this subject of how best to bring about such

genocide. The paper was produced under the title the "Global 2000 Report" and was accepted and approved for action by

President Carter, for and on behalf of the U.S. Government, and accepted by Edwin Muskie, then Secretary of State, Under the

terms of the (Global 2000 Report).