Alexius Meinong 1853 – 1920
Alexius Meinong was an Austrian philosopher, a student of Franz Brentano, and the founder of the Graz school of object theory. Drawing on Brentano's thesis of intentionality, he argued that the proper subject matter of philosophical investigation includes every object that can be the target of a mental act, including non-existent and impossible objects such as the golden mountain and the round square. His Theory of Objects shaped the early debates of analytic philosophy through Russell's celebrated criticisms of it, and it has experienced a sustained revival in contemporary metaphysics.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Austrian
- Era
- Modern
- Movements
- Phenomenology, Continental
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Alexius Meinong:
“There are objects of which it is true that there are no such objects.”
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Attributed to Alexius Meinong:
“Every mental act has its proper object.”
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Attributed to Alexius Meinong:
“Mathematical, fictional, and impossible objects are all objects of thought.”
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Attributed to Alexius Meinong:
“Object theory studies the totality of what is given to mind.”
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Attributed to Alexius Meinong:
“What is given is more than what exists.”