Leibniz

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, he was the author of a complex

system of thought that has been championed and satirized in

equal measure, most famously in Voltaire¿s Candide.

In this outstanding introduction to his philosophy, Nicholas Jolley examines

and assesses the whole of Leibniz¿s philosophy. Beginning with

an account of Leibniz¿s life and work, he carefully explains the core elements

of Leibniz¿s metaphysics: his theories of substance, identity and

individuation; his doctrine of monads; 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 exam