| Description |
1 online resource (xv, 290 pages) |
| Contents |
Cover -- Leibniz's Key Philosophical Writings -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of contributors -- List of abbreviations -- Introduction, including a sketch of Leibniz's life and philosophical works -- 1 Leibniz's life -- 0.2 Leibniz's philosophical writings -- 0.3 Principles of selection -- 1: "Confessio philosophi" -- 1.1 The best of all possible worlds -- 1.2 The damned -- 1.3 Upholding the justice of God -- 1.4 The place of the "Confessio" in Leibniz's theodicy project -- Suggestions for further reading -- 2: "De summa rerum." |
|
2.1 A philosophical laboratory -- 2.2 First principles -- 2.3 Simple forms and explanatory parallelism -- 2.4 The derivation of things from forms -- 2.5 Necessity and the foundations of physics -- 2.6 Monism and the ultimate reason of things -- 2.7 Conclusion: the Hanoverian aftermath -- Suggestion for further reading -- 3: "Discourse on Metaphysics" -- 3.1 God and his choice of the best (1-7) -- 3.2 Substance (8-16) -- 3.3 Physics (17-22) -- 3.4 The relationship between God and minds (23-37) -- 3.5 The purpose of the "Discourse" -- Suggestions for further reading |
|
4: The Correspondence with Arnauld -- 4.1 Introduction and background -- 4.2 Complete concepts and contingency -- 4.3 Substance and body -- 4.4 Causation -- 4.5 Minds and the city of God -- 4.6 Conclusion -- Suggestions for further reading -- 5: "New System of the Nature of Substances ..." -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 A text with many layers -- 5.3 Animals and atoms: substance -- 5.3.1 "Far into the country of the Scholastics . . ." -- 5.3.2 Forms and souls -- 5.3.2.1 Natural machines -- 5.3.2.2 Formal atoms -- 5.4 The system of correspondences -- 5.4.1 At sea again |
|
5.4.2 Reaching port: the theory of agreements -- 5.4.3 More than a theory? -- 5.5 Conclusion -- Suggestions for further reading -- 6: The Correspondence with De Volder -- 6.1 The impetus and primary motivations for the correspondence -- 6.2 Pedagogical exoteric writing -- 6.3 Three phases of the correspondence -- 6.4 The first phase -- 6.5 The second phase -- 6.6 The third phase -- Suggestions for further reading -- 7: New Essays on Human Understanding -- 7.1 Background and purpose -- 7.2 Dialogue form -- 7.3 Interpretation of the dialogue -- 7.4 Some general themes -- 7.5 Ideas |
|
7.6 Ideas, images, signs, and propositional knowledge -- 7.7 Logical, real, and physical genera -- 7.8 Forces and the constitution of a substance -- 7.9 Souls, bodies and the pre-established harmony -- 7.10 Souls and bodies as substantial, concrete, real, and physical -- 7.11 A posteriori reasoning across the sciences -- Suggestions for further reading -- 8: The Theodicy -- 8.1 General background -- 8.2 The preface -- 8.3 Preliminary Dissertation on the Conformity of Faith with Reason -- 8.4 The Essays -- 8.4.1 The proof that God is the first reason of things |
| Summary |
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) is one of the most important and influential philosophers of the modern period. He offered a wealth of original ideas in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and philosophical theology, among them his signature doctrines on substance and monads, pre-established harmony, and optimism. This volume contains introductory chapters on eleven of Leibniz's key philosophical writings, from youthful works ("Confessio philosophi", "De summa rerum"), seminal middle-period writings ("Discourse on Metaphysics", "New System"), to masterpieces of his maturity ("Monadology", "Discourse on the Natural Theology of the Chinese"). It also covers his two main philosophical books (New Essays on Human Understanding and Theodicy), and three of his most important philosophical correspondences with Antoine Arnauld, Burcher De Volder, and Samuel Clarke. Written by internationally-renowned experts on Leibniz, the chapters offer clear, accessible accounts of the ideas and arguments of these key writings, along with valuable information about their composition and context. By focusing on the primary texts, they enable readers to attain a solid understanding of what each text says and why, and give them the confidence to read the texts themselves. Offering a detailed and chronological view of Leibniz's philosophy and its development through some0of his most important writings, this volume is an invaluable guide for those encountering Leibniz for the first time |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-285) and index |
| Notes |
Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed November 19, 2020) |
| Subject |
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Freiherr von, 1646-1716.
|
| SUBJECT |
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Freiherr von, 1646-1716 fast |
| Subject |
Philosophy, German.
|
|
Philosophy, German
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
Lodge, Paul, 1968- editor.
|
|
Strickland, Lloyd, 1973- editor.
|
| ISBN |
9780192583581 |
|
0192583581 |
|
9780191880353 |
|
0191880353 |
|
