Description
Book SynopsisFew philosophers have left a legacy like that of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. He has been credited not only with inventing the differential calculus, but also with anticipating the basic ideas of modern logic, information science, and fractal geometry.
Trade ReviewThis is a lucid, informative and original book. With marvellous clarity and authority, Arthur paints a very sympathetic and very useful portrait of Leibniz’s philosophy, its development and the context in which it develops. Leibniz’s scholars will appreciate the original positions it takes and the solid arguments (textual and historical) the author assembles to support them. If you can read only one book about Leibniz's philosophy, read this one.
Ohad Nachtomy, Bar-Ilan University, Israel An engaging introduction to Leibniz's philosophy. Arthur succeeds in rendering Leibniz's often arcane views accessible to the general reader, while defending an illuminating interpretation of the development and unity of his thought in logic, linguistics, mathematics, physics and metaphysics. A first-class work from a leading Leibniz expert.
Donald Rutherford, University of California, San Diego Fluently tracing the development of Leibniz’s thought, Arthur seamlessly interweaves and unites Leibniz’s interests in language, the natural and life sciences, mathematics, law, and religion with a philosophy that endorses the reality of bodies. The result is a fascinating and illuminating account of the man and his thought that not only deepens and enriches our understanding but also bears testimony to the enduring significance of his ideas.
Pauline Phemister, University of EdinburghTable of Contents
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Logic, language and the Encyclopaedia project
- Chapter 3: Natural philosophy and the science of life
- Chapter 4: Mathematical philosophy
- Chapter 5: The reform of metaphysics
- Chapter 6: Dynamics: the physics and metaphysics of action
- Chapter 7: The philosophy of space and time
- Chapter 8: Morals and politics
- Chapter 9: Leibnizian posterity
