Leibniz
Early ModernRationalist
This is the best of all possible worlds. He invented calculus, dreamed of a universal language, and believed God chose this universe from an infinite menu.
Leibniz was a polymath who worked as a diplomat, librarian, and courtier in Hanover. He invented calculus independently of Newton (sparking the most bitter priority dispute in the history of science), designed a mechanical calculator, and dreamed of a universal logical language that would settle all disputes by computation. His Monadology proposes that reality consists of simple, mind-like substances called monads, each reflecting the entire universe from its own perspective. God, the supreme monad, chose to create this world because it is the best of all possible worlds. Voltaire mocked this idea. Leibniz died in 1716, largely forgotten.
Places
Ideas
Words
“This is the best of all possible worlds.”
Works
Life & Moments
Born in Leipzig
Born to a professor of moral philosophy at the University of Leipzig. His father died when he was six, leaving behind a large library. The boy taught himself Latin by age twelve, working through the books on his own.
Develops the Calculus
While living in Paris, Leibniz independently developed the infinitesimal calculus, inventing the notation still used today. Newton had arrived at similar results earlier but published later. The priority dispute between them became one of the ugliest in the history of science.
Writes the Monadology
Wrote the Monadology, a short work laying out his mature metaphysics. Reality, he argued, is composed of simple, indivisible substances called monads, each reflecting the entire universe from its own perspective. It was ninety paragraphs long and contained an entire philosophy.
Death in Hanover
Died in Hanover largely forgotten, his funeral unattended by court or academy. Voltaire would later mock his best of all possible worlds, but the calculus and the monads endured.
Influence
Influenced by
- Descartes
Leibniz developed his monadology partly in response to problems in Cartesian physics and metaphysics.
- Anne Conway
Leibniz read Conway's treatise and borrowed her term, the monad, for the living units at the base of his system.
Influenced
- Voltaire
Leibniz's claim that this is the best of all possible worlds is the direct target of Candide. Pangloss is a caricature of Leibnizian optimism.
