Andreas Rüdiger, the German physician and philosopher, was born in Rochlitz, Saxony. Poverty and bad health allowed him to study only irregularly. In 1692 he served as a tutor in the home of Christian Thomasius. He was compelled to interrupt his studies completely in 1695; not until 1697 could he enter the University of Leipzig, where he studied law and medicine, receiving a master's degree in 1700. He received a doctorate in medicine from the University of Halle in 1703, but he continued to lecture at the University of Leipzig. From 1707 to 1712 he practiced medicine and lectured in Halle, and from 1712 until his death he did so in Leipzig.

The development of Rüdiger's philosophy was greatly influenced by his teachers Christian Thomasius and Franz Budde. However, he soon developed individual views within the Thomasian school. His medical studies centered his interests...