Leibniz and the Rational Order of Nature

The most up-to-date and comprehensive interpretation of the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716).

Donald Rutherford (Author)

9780521597371, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 January 1998

320 pages
22.7 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.435 kg

'Leibniz and the Rational Order of Nature is a learned and sensible book.' Journal of Religious Studies

This is 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 Amongst its other virtues, it makes considerable use of unpublished manuscript sources. The book seeks to demonstrate the systematic unity of Leibniz's thought, in which theodicy, ethics, metaphysics and natural philosophy cohere. The key, underlying idea of the system is the conception of nature as an order designed by God to maximise the opportunities for the exercise of reason. From this idea emerges the view that this world is the best of all possible worlds, and an ethical ideal in which the well-being of human beings is promoted through the gradual extension of intellectual enlightenment.

Part 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.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD]