Georg Friedrich Meier: Beyträge zu der Lehre von den Vorurtheilen des menschlichen Geschlechts / Contributi alla dottrina dei pregiudizi del genere umano

The late work of Georg Friedrich Meier (1718–1777), now available again in this critical edition and one of the rarest philosophical books in the field of Wolffianism today, was and is still a provocation, not only for 18th century Enlightenment but also for current research on prejudice. His major theories, which were widely disseminated quickly, included: The convictions of each person consist mainly of mere prejudices. Of course there are by no means only false prejudices but also accurate prejudices. Even the so-called ›verified results of science‹ are often prejudices. And even Christianity – Meier was a devout Lutheran – is based more or less on human prejudice, similar to atheism. Written completely without academic jargon, the ›Beyträge‹ by Meier, who held the most important chair of philosophy in Halle, Prussia, are by no means of interest only to those who collect and read antiquarian books. They should in fact be required reading for every intellectual today.