Johann Heinrich Winkler or Winckler (12 March 1703 – 18 May 1770) was a German physicist and philosopher.

Biography

Early life

Winckler was born in Wingendorf, a village in Silesia.Klemme, Heiner F; Kuehn, Manfred. (2016). ''The Bloomsbury Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers''. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 857. He was educated at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. One of his teachers was Andreas Rüdiger, an opponent of Christian Wolff. Winckler read Wolff's works and defended him against Rudiger during his lessons.

Career

In 1731, he was appointed a teacher (''collega quartus'') at St. Thomas School in Leipzig. The building was enlarged the same year and he wrote the libretto of ''Froher Tag, verlangte Stunde'', a cantata to mark the completion of the project. It was set to music by his colleague

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

and performed in the summer of 1732. Winckler authored a textbook of philosophy first published in 1735 and a second edition in 1742. In 1739, he became professor of philosophy at Leipzig university and professor of Latin and Greek in 1742. In 1750, he became professor of physics. He was elected president of the university eight times. Bierglas-Elektrisiermaschine

Winckler is best known for his electrical experimentation research. In 1744, Winckler authored, ''Gedanken von den Eigenschaften, Wirkungen und Ursachen der Electricität: nebst einer Beschreibung zwo neuer electrischen Machinen'' (Thoughts on the Properties, Effects, and Causes of Electricity: Together with a Description of Two New Electrical Machines, 1744).

Winckler and the Royal Society

Winckler was elected to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1747. The Royal Society, which spelled his name Winkler, published information about his electrical experiments in their ''Philosophical Transactions''.An Account of Professor Winkler's Experiments Relating to Odours Passing through Electrised Globes and Tubes...
doi: 10.1098/rstl.1751.0035 ''Phil. Trans''. 1751 vol. 47 231-241

Animal rights

Winckler authored a series of essays between 1741–1743 on the existence of animal souls.Maehle, Andreas-Holger. ''Cruelty and Kindness to the 'Brute Creation': Stability and Change in the Ethics of the Man-Animal Relationship, 1600-1850''. In Aubrey Manning and James Serpell. (2003). ''Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives''.

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

. p. 88. He took an anti-Cartesian position and was convinced that animals have intelligence and possess sensitive souls. Winckler's textbook ''Institutiones Philosophiae Universae,'' published in 1762, drew ethical conclusions from his views on animal souls. Winckler argued that since animals have sensitive souls, there is no valid reason why it should be permissible to torment them. Winckler stated that human beings should cause as little pain as possible to animals when using them or killing them for food. Winckler's writings on animal souls similar to Johann Friedrich Ludwig Volckmann,

John Hildrop John Hildrop (30 December 1682 – 18 January 1756) was an English cleric, known as a religious writer and essayist. Hildrop authored one of the earliest works on animal rights. Life Hildrop was born in Petersfield, Hampshire, the son of Willia ...

Richard Dean Richard Dean may refer to: * Richard Dean (model), American athlete, model and photographer * Richard D. Dean, United States Army general * Richard Dean (civil servant) (1772−1850), British civil servant * Richard Dean (curate), Anglican minister ...

and

Laurids Smith Laurids Smith (12 April 1754 – 22 March 1794), also known as Lauritz Smith was a Danish clergyman, philosopher and early animal rights writer. He was Scandinavia's first known advocate of humane treatment of animals. Biography Smith was bor ...

have been described as narrowing the gap between animals and human beings and starting "the idea of animal protection on the basis of animal psychology."

Selected publications

* ''Institutiones Philosophiae Universae'' (1742, 1762) *''Untersuchung von dem Seyn und Wesen der Seelen der Thiere'' (1742–1745). *''Gedanken von den Eigenschaften, Wirkungen und Ursachen der Electricität: nebst einer Beschreibung zwo neuer electrischen Machinen'' (1744)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winckler, Johann Heinrich 1703 births 1770 deaths 18th-century German philosophers 18th-century German physicists German experimental physicists Foreign members of the Royal Society German animal rights scholars German cantata librettists German schoolteachers Academic staff of Leipzig University St. Thomas School, Leipzig teachers Leipzig University alumni