science

Georg Friedrich Meier

Georg Friedrich Meier is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Georg Friedrich Meier rather than just read about it. In short: Georg Friedrich Meier (26 March 1718 – 21 June 1777) was a German philosopher and aesthetician. A follower of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, he reformed the philosophy of Christian Wolff by introducing elements of John Locke's empiricist theory of knowledge.

Key takeaways

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Reproduce the core statement of Georg Friedrich Meier from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Georg Friedrich Meier (26 March 1718 – 21 June 1777) was a German philosopher and aesthetician. A follower of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, he reformed the philosophy of Christian Wolff by introducing elements of John Locke's empiricist theory of knowledge.

Career Meier studied philosophy and theology at the University of Halle, where he was a pupil of Baumgarten. Meier succeeded Baumgarten as extraordinary professor, and became a full professor at Halle in 1748.

Animal rights Meier was an early advocate of animal rights. In 1749, Meier authored Versuch eines neuen Lehrgebäudes von den Seelen der Thiere (Attempt of a new teaching structure from the souls of animals) which ascribed the same sensory perceptions to both animals and man. He granted animals imagination, intelligence, judgement, memory, language, pleasure and displeasure. Meier believed that animals were capable of love and that their souls were eternal for God cannot destroy anything. Meier fiercely opposed the mechanist views of René Descartes. He believed that God had endowed animals with souls to enjoy his creation and after death an animals soul could reach the next step of incarnation until finally becoming a human soul. His doctrine of metempsychosis was not based on respect for animal life or their welfare. In contrast, Meier advocated the killing of animals due to his unusual belief that it would accelerate the rise of their souls.

Works Gedancken von Schertzen, Halle 1744. Anfangsgründe aller schönen Künste und Wissenschaften, Halle 1748–50 (3 vols.). Versuch eines neuen Lehrgebäudes von den Seelen der Thiere, Halle 1749. Vernunftlehre, Halle 1752. Auszug aus der Vernunftlehre, Halle 1752 (reprinted in Kant's gesammelte Schriften Akademie Ausgabe, XVI, pp. 1–872 with the annotations by Kant). Metaphysik, Halle: vol. 1 (1755), vol. 2 (1756), vol. 3 (1757), vol. 4 (1759). Versuch einer allgemeinen Auslegungskunst, Halle 1757. Philosophische Sittenlehre Halle 1753-1761 (5 vols.). Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten Leben, Halle 1763. Beyträge zu der Lehre von den Vorurtheilen, Halle 1766. Betrachtungen über die Schranken der menschlichen Erkenntniss, Halle 1775.

References

Further reading Makkreel, Rudolf, The Confluence of Aesthetics and Hermeneutics in Baumgarten, Meier, and Kant, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 54(1) (1996): 65–75. Riccardo Pozzo, Georg Friedrich Meiers „Vernunftlehre“. Eine historisch-systematische Untersuchung, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2000. ISBN 3-7728-2023-9 Günter Schenk, Leben und Werk des halleschen Aufklärers Georg Friedrich Meier, Halle/Saale 1994. ISBN 3-929887-01-0.

External links Media related to Georg Friedrich Meier at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Georg Friedrich Meier

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Georg Friedrich Meier claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Georg Friedrich Meier before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Georg Friedrich Meier ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Georg Friedrich Meier

In research: Georg Friedrich Meier appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Georg Friedrich Meier in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Georg Friedrich Meier is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1718 births, 1777 deaths, 18th-century German male writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Georg Friedrich Meier outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Georg Friedrich Meier in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is Georg Friedrich Meier in simple terms?

Why does Georg Friedrich Meier matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Georg Friedrich Meier?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Georg Friedrich Meier.