Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (; 25 January 1743 – 10 March 1819) was an influential
German philosopher,
literary figure,
socialite, and the younger brother of poet
Johann Georg Jacobi. He is notable for popularizing the term
nihilism (coined by Obereit in 1787) and promoting it as the prime fault of
Enlightenment thought particularly in the philosophical systems of
Baruch Spinoza,
Immanuel Kant,
Johann Fichte and
Friedrich Schelling. Instead of
speculative reason, he advocated
Glaube (variously translated as
faith or "belief") and
revelation. In this sense, Jacobi anticipated present-day writers who criticize secular philosophy as
relativistic and dangerous for religious faith. In his time, he was also well-known among literary circles for his critique of the
Sturm and Drang movement, and implicitly close associate
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and its visions of atomized
individualism. His literary projects were devoted to the reconciliation of Enlightenment individualism with social obligation.