Leibniz (PDF)

Few philosophers have left a legacy like that of Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz. He has been credited not only with inventing the
differential calculus, but also with anticipating the basic ideas
of modern logic, information science, and fractal geometry. He made
important contributions to such diverse fields as jurisprudence,
geology and etymology, while sketching designs for calculating
machines, wind pumps, and submarines. But the common presentation
of his philosophy as a kind of unworldly idealism is at odds with
all this bustling practical activity.

In this book Richard. T. W. Arthur offers a fresh reading of
Leibniz's philosophy, clearly situating it in its scientific,
political and theological contexts. He argues that Leibniz aimed to
provide an improved foundation for the mechanical philosophy based
on a new kind of universal language. His contributions to natural
philosophy are an integral part of this programme, which his
metaphysics, dynamics and organic philosophy were designed to
support. Rather than denying that substances really exist in space
and time, as the idealist reading proposes, Leibniz sought to
provide a deeper understanding of substance and body, and a correct
understanding of space as an order of situations and time as an
order of successive things.

This lively and approachable book will appeal to students of
philosophy, as well as anyone seeking a stimulating introduction to
Leibniz's thought and its continuing relevance.