A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz

A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz
Author: Bertrand Russell
Publisher: Spokesman Books
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 0851247423

Russell's first strictly philosophical work, this study remains one of the most important studies of Leibniz every published. It established an approach to studying philosophers of the past that emphasises the philosophical rather than the historical.

Leibniz

Leibniz
Author: Nicholas Jolley
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2006-03-13
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1134456158

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was hailed by Bertrand Russell as 'one of the supreme intellects of all time'. A towering figure in seventeenth-century philosophy, his complex thought has been championed and satirized in equal measure, most famously in Voltaire's Candide. In this outstanding introduction to his philosophy, Nicholas Jolley introduces and assesses the whole of Leibniz's philosophy. Beginning with an introduction to Leibniz's life and work, he carefully introduces the core elements of Leibniz's metaphysics: his theories of substance, identity and individuation; monads and space and time; and his important debate over the nature of space and time with Newton's champion, Samuel Clarke. He then introduces Leibniz's theories of mind, knowledge, and innate ideas, showing how Leibniz anticipated the distinction between conscious and unconscious states, before examining his theory of free will and the problem of evil. An important feature of the book is its introduction to Leibniz's moral and political philosophy, an overlooked aspect of his work. The final chapter assesses legacy and the impact of his philosophy on philosophy as a whole, particularly on the work of Immanuel Kant. Throughout, Nicholas Jolley places Leibniz in relation to some of the other great philosophers, such as Descartes, Spinoza and Locke, and discusses Leibniz's key works, such as the Monadology and Discourse on Metaphysics.

Leibniz on Causation and Agency

Leibniz on Causation and Agency
Author: Julia Jorati
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2017-07-13
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1107192676

A fresh and thorough exploration of Leibniz's often controversial theories, including his thought on teleology, contingency, freedom, and moral responsibility.

The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz

The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz
Author: Nicholas Jolley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 520
Release: 1995
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521367691

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

Leibniz's Naturalized Philosophy of Mind

Leibniz's Naturalized Philosophy of Mind
Author: Larry M. Jorgensen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2019-02-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0191023973

Larry M. Jorgensen provides a systematic reappraisal of Leibniz's philosophy of mind, revealing the full metaphysical background that allowed Leibniz to see farther than most of his contemporaries. In recent philosophy much effort has been put into discovering a naturalized theory of mind. Leibniz's efforts to reach a similar goal three hundred years earlier offer a critical stance from which we can assess our own theories. But while the goals might be similar, the content of Leibniz's theory significantly diverges from that of today's thought. Perhaps surprisingly, Leibniz's theological commitments yielded a thoroughgoing naturalizing methodology: the properties of an object are explicable in terms of the object's nature. Larry M. Jorgensen shows how this methodology led Leibniz to a fully natural theory of mind.

Leibniz’s Metaphysics of Time and Space

Leibniz’s Metaphysics of Time and Space
Author: Michael Futch
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2008-04-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402082371

Leibniz’s metaphysics of space and time stands at the centre of his philosophy and is one of the high-water marks in the history of the philosophy of science. In this work, Futch provides the first systematic and comprehensive examination of Leibniz’s thought on this subject. In addition to elucidating the nature of Leibniz’s relationalism, the book fills a lacuna in existing scholarship by examining his views on the topological structure of space and time, including the unity and unboundedness of space and time. It is shown that, like many of his more recent counterparts, Leibniz adopts a causal theory of time where temporal facts are grounded on causal facts, and that his approach to time represents a precursor to non-tensed theories of time. Futch then goes on to situate Leibniz’s philosophy of space and time within the broader context of his idealistic metaphysics and natural theology. Emphasizing the historical background of Leibniz’s thought, the book also places him in dialogue with contemporary philosophy of science, underscoring the enduring philosophical interest of Leibniz’s metaphysics of time and space.