page_title: Gabriel Wagner
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Gabriel Wagner / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Cover of a publication against Benedictus de Spinoza's work. Text: "Benedictus de Spinoza. Iudeus et atheista."
context_page_description: Gabriel Wagner was a radical German philosopher and materialist who wrote under the nom-de-plume Realis de Vienna. A follower of Spinoza and acquaintance of Leibniz, Wagner did not believe that the universe or bible were divine creations, and sought to extricate philosophy and science from the influence of theology. Wagner also held radical political views critical of the nobility and monarchy. After failing to establish lasting careers in cities throughout German-speaking Europe, Wagner died in or shortly after 1717.
context_section_description: Wagner is known for his longstanding correspondence with Leibniz, and his erudition and innovative understanding of philosophy and natural sciences during his time, according to historian Cornelio Fabro.
  Historian Jonathan Israel writes that Wagner is an important materialist philosopher of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and an example of both radical philosophy and atheism produced by the growing university system of the period. Historian Frederick Beiser writes that Wagner and his fellow materialists in Germany, though they were less numerous than those found in France and England, developed mechanistic explanations for human behavior and raised fears of spreading religious skepticism.
caption: An early engraving of the philosopher Spinoza, a major influence on Wagner's world view.
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