The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz

The most comprehensive account of the full range of Leibniz's thought.

Nicholas Jolley (Edited by)

9780521367691, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 October 1994

516 pages, 3 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.75 kg

"As with the previous volumes in the Cambridge "Companion" series, this one conforms to the highest standards of research and scholarships....the essays are accessible to anyone with an interest in discovering the richness of Leibniz's philosophy. This collection provides valuable insights for the person newly acquainted with Leibniz, controversial new interpretations for those who are already familiar with the canon." Choice

Gottfried Leibniz was a remarkable thinker who made fundamental contributions not only to philosophy, but also to the development of modern mathematics and science. At the centre of Leibniz's philosophy stands his metaphysics, an ambitious attempt to discover the nature of reality through the use of unaided reason. This volume provides a systematic and comprehensive account of the full range of Leibniz's thought, exploring the metaphysics in detail and showing its subtle and complex relationship to his views on logic, language, physics, and theology. Other chapters examine the intellectual context of his thought and its reception in the eighteenth century. New readers and nonspecialists will find this the most accessible and comprehensive guide to Leibniz currently available. Advanced students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Leibniz.

1. Introduction Nicholas Jolley
2. G. W. Leibniz, life and works Roger Ariew
3. The seventeenth-century intellectual background Stuart Brown
4. Metaphysics: the early period to the Discourse on Metaphysics Christia Mercer and R. C. Sleigh Jr
5. Metaphysics: the late period Donald Rutherford
6. The theory of knowledge Robert McRae
7. Philosophy and logic G. H. R. Parkinson
8. Philosophy and Language in Leibniz Donald Rutherford
9. Leibniz: physics and philosophy Daniel Garber
10. Leibniz's ontological and cosmological arguments David Blumenfeld
11. Perfection and happiness in the best possible world David Blumenfeld
12. Leibniz's moral philosophy Gregory Brown
13. The reception of Leibniz in the eighteenth century Catherine Wilson.

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