Ján Bayer
Philospher and pedagogue
1630, Prešov
† 14th May 1674, Spišské Podhradie (county Spišská Nová Ves)
He was born in 1630 in Prešov and studied in Wittenberg. At first he worked at his alma mater. After his return to Prešov (1659) he became a co-chancellor and later a chancellor of the local school and changed it into a lyceum with the help of Isaac Caban. Unfortunatelly, he didn’t see the advancement of the school, because he lost his professorship in 1665. After that, he became a preacher in Spišské Podhradie and Banská Bystrica. He was a member of the group, which prepared a conspiracy against the Habsburgs and was sentenced to death. The sentence was later changed to banishment, but Bayer suddenly died before his departure.
Ján Bayer was a notable philosopher during his life. As a supporter of Francis Bacon’s teaching, he pointed out the necessity of building on the experience during research as well as permanent observation and experiments. He propagated inductive philosophy. Thanks to his orientation on modern natural siences, he became the first materialist in Slovakia. As a protestant, he tried to accomplish a fusion between religion and science – a rational and empirical view of life along with certain mystic speculations. His most important works are Ostium vel altium naturae... (1662) and Lux mentium (1663). As a pedagogue, he was heavily influenced by J. A. Comenius, mainly with his focus on opinions during teaching. He applied these teachings during the tranformation of the Prešov school to a lyceum.
He died on 14th May 1674 in Spišské Podhradie ( Spišská Nová Ves region).