Description
Book SynopsisThis book offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive interpretation of the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716). Amongst its other virtues, it makes considerable use of unpublished manuscript sources. This work is a major contribution to Leibniz scholarship that will prove invaluable to historians of philosophy, theology, and science.
Trade Review'… Donald Rutherford has produced a fine, fine book on Leibniz. Under Rutherford's expert guidance, anyone at all interested in the history and philosophy of physics can come to understand how and why Leibniz is the pivotal figure that he is.' Foundations of Physics
'Leibniz and the Rational Order of Nature is a learned and sensible book.' Journal of Religious Studies
Table of ContentsPart I. Theodicy: 1. The vindication of divine justice; 2. The maximisation of perfection and harmony; 3. Happiness and virtue in the best of all possible worlds; Part II. First philosophy: 4. Metaphysics and its method; 5. The categories of thought and being; 6. Substance; Part III. Nature: 7. Modelling the best of all possible worlds; 8. Monads, matter, and organisms; 9. Dynamics and the reality of matter; 10. Corporeal substance and the union of soul body.
