Erdmann was born on 13 June 1805 in Wolmar,
Livonia, where his father was a
Lutheran pastor. Erdmann studied
theology at the
Imperial University of Dorpat and afterward at
Berlin, where he fell under the influence of
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and was known never to miss Hegel's lectures. Then, from 1829 to 1832 he was a minister of religion in his native town of Wolmar. Afterwards he resigned from his position as pastor to devote himself to education and philosophy, but continued to minister throughout his life. He obtained a doctoral degree from the
University of Kiel with the treatise,
Quidnam sit discrimen philosophiam inter et theologiam (What is the Distinction between Philosophy and Theology?), written in 1830, in which he argued that philosophy and religion converge to a common truth, even though they differ in form of approach. In 1834 he began writing his
Habilitation thesis to qualify in Berlin. This became volume 1 of his work titled
Versuch einer wissenschaftlichen Darstellung der Geschichte der neuern Philosophie (6 vols., 1834–1853; Attempt at a Scientific Presentation of the History of Modern Philosophy). In 1836 he was professor-extraordinary at
Halle, became a full professor in 1839, and remained there until his death. He died on 12 June 1892, aged 86, in Halle, ==Commentary on Erdmann==