The Young Leibniz and his Philosophy (1646-76) (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idees)

328 Pages·1999·6.61 MB·English

by  Stuart Brown

ARCHIVES INTERNATIONALES D'HISTOIRE DES IDEES
INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS
166
THE YOUNG LEIBNIZ
AND HIS PHILOSOPHY (1646-76)
edited by
STUART BROWN
Founding Directors:
P. Dibont (Paris) and R.H, Popkin (Washington University, St. Louis & UCLA)
Director:
Sarah Hutton (The University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom)
Assistant-Directors: J.E. Force (Lexington); J.C. Laursen (Riverside)
Editorial Board: J.F Battail (Paris); F Duchesneau (Montreal); A. Gabbey (New York);
T. Gregory (Rome); J.D. North (Groningen); MJ. Petry (Rotterdam); J. Popkin (Lexington);
G.A.J. Rogers (Keele); Th. Verbeek (Utrecht)
Advisory Editorial Board: J. Aubin (Paris); B. Copenhaver (Los Angeles);
A. Crombie (Oxford); H. Gadamer (Heidelberg); H. Gouhier (Paris);
K. Hanada (Hokkaido University); W. Kirsop (Melbourne);
E. Labrousse (Paris); A. Lossky (Los Angeles); J. Malarczyk (Lublin); J. Orcibal (Paris);
W. Rod (Miinchen); G. Rousseau (Los Angeles); H. Rowen (Rutgers University, N.J.);
J.P. Schobinger (Zurich); J. Tans (Groningen)
THE YOUNG LEIBNIZ
AND HIS PHILOSOPHY
(1646-76)
edited by
STUART BROWN
The Open University, U.K.
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
DORDRECHT / BOSTON / LONDON

A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 0-7923-5997-6
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements vii
A chronology of the young Leibniz (1646-76) ix
Abbreviations xi
Leibniz's formative years (1646-76): an overview 1
by Stuart Brown
The young Leibniz and his teachers 19
by Christia Mercer
Immeatio and emperichoresis. The theological roots of 41
harmony in Bisterfeld and Leibniz
by Maria Rosa Antognazza
Deus sive harmonia universalis est ultima ratio rerum:
the conception of God in Leibniz's early philosophy 65
by Konrad Moll
Transubstantiation, physics and philosophy at the time of
the Catholic Demonstrations 79
by Ursula Goldenbaum
The young Leibniz and the problem of historical truth 103
by Daniel Cook
Mathematics and nature in Leibniz's early philosophy 123
by Philip Beeley
Leibniz and ethics: the years 1669-72 147
by Francesco Piro
Leibniz and millenarianism 169
by Howard Hotson
v
VI
Sufficient reason and human freedom in the
Confessio Philosophi 199
by G. H. R. Parkinson
Atoms, minds and vortices in De Summa Rerum:
Leibniz vis-a-vis Hobbes and Spinoza 223
by Catherine Wilson
Leibniz, Spinoza, and Tschirnhaus: multiple worlds,
possible worlds 245
by Mark A. Kulstad
The proto-monadology of the De Summa Rerum 263
by Stuart Brown
A bibliography of the Young Leibniz and his background 289
Index 309
Acknowledgements
This volume had its beginnings in a conference on The Young Leibniz
and his Philosophy held in 1996 as part of the celebrations of the
350th anniversary of Leibniz's birth. I am grateful to Philip Beeley,
Christia Mercer and Harry Parkinson for encouraging me to organise
this conference and to the staff of in Woburn College in Bedfordshire
for providing us with an ideal environment for our discussions. The
Conference was sponsored by the British Society for the History of
Philosophy and supported by grants from the B.S.H.P, the Mind
Association and the Open University Arts Faculty Research
Committee, which is gratefully acknowledged.
The task of preparing the collection for publication was greatly
facilitated by the support of colleagues in the Faculty of Arts at the
Open University. I am especially grateful to two Secretaries of the
Department of Philosophy, Wendy Clarke and Miriam Selwyn, for
their willing advice and support. I am also grateful to the Faculty IT
Co-Ordinator, Angela Redgewell, for technical assistance, and to
Sophie Reid, who helped me in the curiously difficult task of adding
accents over Greek characters.
Grateful acknowledgement is made for permission to quote from the
following works: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Philosophical Papers
and Letters. Translated by Leroy E. Loemker. Second Edition.
Copyright © 1969 by D. Reidel, Dordrecht. Reproduced here by kind
permission of Kluwer Academic Publishers. Also from G. W.- Leibniz.
De Summa Rerum. Metaphysical Papers, 1675-1676. Translated by
G. H. R. Parkinson. Copyright © Yale University Press. Reproduced
here by kind permission of Yale University Press and G. H. R.
Parkinson.
vn

A CHRONOLOGY OF THE YOUNG LEIBNIZ (1646-76)
1646 Born in Leipzig, 1 July (NS).
1653 Enters Nicolai School in Leipzig.
1661 Enters University of Leipzig.
1663 Defends and publishes Metaphysical disputation on the
principle of individuation. Becomes Bachelor of Philosophy.
Spends summer semester at the University of Jena.
1664 Graduates Master of Philosophy from Leipzig with a
dissertation on philosophy of law.
1665 Studies law, receiving bachelor's degree in law.
1666 Works on Habilitationsschrift, resulting in the Dissertation on
the art of combinations.
Refused doctor's degree by Leipzig and moves to the
University of Altdorf.
Publishes dissertation on Difficult cases in law.
1667 Receives doctorate in law from Altdorf.
Meets Baron Johann Christian von Boineburg.
Moves to Frankfurt and publishes his New method for learning
and teaching jurisprudence.
1668 Moves to Mainz, where he is appointed to the High Court of
Appeal by the Elector of Mainz.
Catalogues Boineburg's library and writes anonymous tract
supporting the Elector's candidate to be elected king of Poland
1669 Engaged in ecclesiastical diplomacy and in writing about
theology and philosophy of religion, including the drafts
known as The Catholic Demonstrations
Confession of nature against atheists published anonymously
1670 Produces for Boineburg an edition of Nizolius's Anti-Barbarus
Works on physics and studies Hobbes
1671 Publishes New physical hypothesis
Completes his Justa dissertatio and his Grundriss
ix