The Science of Right in Leibniz's Moral and Political Philosophy

The Science of Right in Leibniz's Moral and Political Philosophy PDF

Author: Christopher Johns

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2013-08-15

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 1780935404

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Studies of Gottfried Leibniz's moral and political philosophy typically focus on metaphysical perfection, happiness, or love. In this new reading of Leibniz, Christopher Johns shows that it is based on a 'science of right'. Based on the deontic concepts of jus (right) and obligation, this science of right is established in Leibniz's early writings on jurisprudence and depended on throughout several of his major late writings. Johns shows that the moral rightness of an action is grounded in the rights and obligations derived from the agent's capacity for freedom. This new interpretation of Leibniz's moral philosophy compares Leibniz's positions with Grotius, Pufendorf, Hobbes, Locke, and Kant. Providing a comprehensive examination of Leibniz's most important writings on natural right, John's argues that Leibniz, properly understood, provides a compelling account of the grounds of morality and of political institutions-an account relevant to present philosophical debates.

Leibniz

Leibniz PDF

Author: C. D Broad

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1975-06-26

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9780521206914

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This book, first published in 1975, provides critical and comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of Leibniz. C.D. Broad was Knightsbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy at Cambridge from 1933 to 1953 and this book is based on his undergraduate lectures on Leibniz. Broad died in 1971 and Dr Lewy has since edited the book for publication. Leibniz is, of course, recognized as a major figure in all courses in the history of philosophy, but he has perhaps been less well served by textbook writers than most other philosophers. Broad has provided here a characteristically shrewd and sympathetic survey which further confirms his known virtues as an historian and expositor. It is a very clear, detailed and orderly guide to what is notoriously a most difficult (and sometimes disorderly) philosophical system; it provides a masterful introduction to the subject.

Theodicy

Theodicy PDF

Author: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Publisher: DigiCat

Published: 2022-11-13

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13:

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"Theodicy" is a book of philosophy by the German polymath Gottfried Leibniz published in 1710, whose optimistic approach to the problem of evil is thought to have inspired Voltaire's "Candide". Much of the work consists of a response to the ideas of the French philosopher Pierre Bayle, with whom Leibniz carried on a debate for many years. The "Theodicy" tries to justify the apparent imperfections of the world by claiming that it is optimal among all possible worlds. It must be the best possible and most balanced world, because it was created by an all powerful and all knowing God, who would not choose to create an imperfect world if a better world could be known to him or possible to exist. In effect, apparent flaws that can be identified in this world must exist in every possible world, because otherwise God would have chosen to create the world that excluded those flaws. Leibniz distinguishes three forms of evil: moral, physical, and metaphysical. Moral evil is sin, physical evil is pain, and metaphysical evil is limitation. God permits moral and physical evil for the sake of greater goods, and metaphysical evil is unavoidable since any created universe must necessarily fall short of God's absolute perfection.

Leibniz

Leibniz PDF

Author: Nicholas Jolley

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-03-13

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1134456158

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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 PDF

Author: Julia Jorati

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-07-13

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1107192676

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

Spinoza: Ethics / Leibniz: The Monadology. / Berkeley: Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous (Annotated)

Spinoza: Ethics / Leibniz: The Monadology. / Berkeley: Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous (Annotated) PDF

Author: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Publisher: Elementary Knowledge of Philos

Published: 2018-10-17

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9781728915456

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Regarding Bertrand Russell (Nobel Laureate, 1950) in "The Problems of Philosophy" (1912), Bibliographical Note:The student who wishes to acquire an elementary knowledge of philosophy will find it both easier and more profitable to read some of the works of the great philosophers than to attempt to derive an all-round view from handbooks. The following are specially recommended: Plato: Republic, especially Books VI and VII. Descartes: Meditations. Spinoza: Ethics. Leibniz: The Monadology. Berkeley: Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous. Hume: Enquiry concerning Human Understanding. Kant: Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics.About the Series "Elementary Knowledge of Philosophy":Volume 1: PLATO: THE REPUBLIC / THE MEDITATIONS OF DESCARTES. Annotated by: THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY by Bertrand Russell.Chapter I. APPEARANCE AND REALITY Chapter II. THE EXISTENCE OR MATTER Chapter III. THE NATURE OF MATTER Chapter IV. IDEALISM Chapter V. KNOWLEDGE BY ACQUAINTANCE AND KNOWLEDGE BY DESCRIPTION Volume 2: SPINOZA: ETHICS / LEIBNIZ: THE MONADOLOGY. / BERKELEY: THREE DIALOGUES BETWEEN HYLAS AND PHILONOUS. Annotated by: THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY by Bertrand Russell.Chapter VI.ON INDUCTION Chapter VII.ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES Chapter VIII.HOW A PRIORI KNOWLEDGE IS POSSIBLE Chapter IX.THE WORLD OF UNIVERSALS Chapter X.ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF UNIVERSALS Volume. 3: HUME: ENQUIRY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING./ KANT: PROLEGOMENA TO ANY FUTURE METAPHYSICS. Annotated by: THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY by Bertrand Russell.Chapter XI.ON INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE Chapter XII.TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD Chapter XIII.KNOWLEDGE, ERROR, AND PROBABLE OPINION Chapter XIV.THE LIMITS OF PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE Chapter XV.THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY" Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order" (Latin: Ethica, ordine geometrico demonstrata), usually known as the Ethics, is a philosophical treatise written in Latin by Benedict de Spinoza. It was written between 1664 and 1665 and was first published posthumously in 1677. The book is perhaps the most ambitious attempt to apply the method of Euclid in philosophy. Spinoza puts forward a small number of definitions and axioms from which he attempts to derive hundreds of propositions and corollaries, such as "When the Mind imagines its own lack of power, it is saddened by it", "A free man thinks of nothing less than of death", and "The human Mind cannot be absolutely destroyed with the Body, but something of it remains which is eternal." The Monadology" is one of Gottfried Leibniz's best known works representing his later philosophy. It is a short text which sketches in some 90 paragraphs a metaphysics of simple substances, or monads.The monad, the word and the idea, belongs to the Western philosophical tradition and has been used by various authors. Leibniz, who was exceptionally well read, could not have ignored this, but he did not use it himself until mid-1696 when he was sending for print his New System. Apparently he found with it a convenient way to expose his own philosophy as it was elaborated in this period. What he proposed can be seen as a modification of occasionalism developed by latter-day Cartesians. Leibniz surmised that there are indefinitely many substances individually 'programmed' to act in a predetermined way, each substance being coordinated with all the others. This is the pre-established harmony which solved the mind-body problem, but at the cost of declaring any interaction between substances a mere appearance."Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous", or simply Three Dialogues, is a 1713 book on metaphysics and idealism written by George Berkeley. Taking the form of a dialogue, the book was written as a response to the criticism Berkeley experienced after publishing A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge.

Leibniz

Leibniz PDF

Author: Donald Rutherford

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2005-03-17

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 019028675X

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The revival of Leibniz studies in the past twenty-five years has cast important new light on both the context and content of Leibniz's philosophical thought. Where earlier English-language scholarship understood Leibniz's philosophy as issuing from his preoccupations with logic and language, recent work has recommended an account on which theological, ethical, and metaphysical themes figure centrally in Leibniz's thought throughout his career. The significance of these themes to the development of Leibniz's philosophy is the subject of increasing attention by philosophers and historians. This collection of new essays by a distinguished group of scholars offers an up-to-date overview of the current state of Leibniz research. In focusing on nature and freedom, the volume revisits two key topics in Leibniz's thought, on which he engaged both contemporary and historical arguments. Important contributions to Leibniz scholarship in their own right, these articles collectively provide readers a framework in which to better situate Leibniz's distinctive philosophy of nature and the congenial home for a morally significant freedom that he took it to provide.

New Essays on Leibniz's Theodicy

New Essays on Leibniz's Theodicy PDF

Author: Larry M. Jorgensen

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0199660034

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This volume offers a reappraisal of a classic text of European philosophy, Leibniz's 'Theodicy'. New essays from leading scholars open a window on the historical context of the work and give close attention to its subtle and enduring philosophical arguments.

Leibniz and the Environment

Leibniz and the Environment PDF

Author: Pauline Phemister

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-31

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1317408101

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The work of seventeenth-century polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz has proved inspirational to philosophers and scientists alike. In this thought-provoking book, Pauline Phemister explores the ecological potential of Leibniz’s dynamic, pluralist, panpsychist, metaphysical system. She argues that Leibniz’s philosophy has a renewed relevance in the twenty-first century, particularly in relation to the environmental change and crises that threaten human and non-human life on earth. Drawing on Leibniz’s theory of soul-like, interconnected metaphysical entities he termed 'monads', Phemister explains how an individual’s true good is inextricably linked to the good of all. Phemister also finds in Leibniz’s works the rudiments of a theory of empathy and strategies for strengthening human feelings of compassion towards all living things. Leibniz and the Environment is essential reading for historians of philosophy and environmental philosophers, and will also be of interest to anyone seeking a metaphysical perspective from which to pursue environmental action and policy.