G. F. Meier’s Letter to his auditors, in which he informs them of his decision to hold a collegium on Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the role played by the collegium held by G. F. Meier at Halle during the Winter Term 1754/55 on Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and by the printed academic program that preceded it. The first part reconstructs Locke’s early influence at the newly founded University of Halle in the first half of the eighteenth century, where Meier studied and taught. Meier was familiar with Locke’s Essay through the French anticipation by Jean Le Clerc, which was the basis for the first German exposition of Locke’s philosophy by Friedrich Gladov, but also through the Latin translation of the Essay edited by Gotthelf Heinrich Thiele. The second part examines Meier’s appropriation of the Essay, as mediated by Wolff and Baumgarten, for Meier’s facultative logic (concepts, judgment, and argumentation) and for his philosophy of language. The third part makes available the English translation of the full text of the Zuschrift an seine Zuhörer, worin er Ihnen seinen Entschluß bekannt macht, ein Collegium über Locks Versuch vom menschlichen Verstande zu halten, the academic program prepared by Meier for the course on Locke, in accordance with the wish expressed by Frederick II the Great during the interview he had with Meier at Halle on 15/16 June 1754. The fourth part considers the implications of Meier’s engagement with Locke, which had decisive consequences for the entire history of the German Enlightenment.