Paul Barth (sociologist)

Paul Barth (1858 to 1922) was a German sociologist and philosopher, born in Baruthe near Oels in Silesia and died in Leipzig. After studying history, philology and philosophy in Breslau and Leipzig he taught at a grammar school from 1882 to 1888, became a private lecturer in philosophy at Leipzig in 1890 and later an extraordinary professor at the University of Leipzig. He edited the Vierteljahrsschrift für wissenschaftliche Philosophie. He is known above all for Philosophie der Geschichte als Sociologie, the first volume of which appeared in 1897 and which is counted among the most authoritative historical sketches of the development of sociological theory published in Germany. His other writings include a study of Hegel's philosophy of history and the Hegelians up to Marx and Hartmann (1890) and a history of education in the light of sociology and the history of ideas (1911).