The Philosophy Book

135

See also: Nicolaus of Autrecourt 334 ■ René Descartes 116–23 ■ David Hume
14 8 – 5 3 ■ Immanuel Kant 164–71 ■ Alfred North Whitehead 336

Gottfried Leibniz

Gottfried Leibniz was a

German philosopher and

mathematician. He was born

in Leipzig, and after university

he took public service with

the Elector of Mainz for five

years, during which time he

concentrated mainly on

political writings. After a

period spent travelling, he

took up the post of librarian

to the Duke of Brunswick, in

Hanover, and remained there

until his death. It was during

this last period of his life that

he did most of the work on

the development of his unique

philosophical system.

Leibniz is famous in

mathematics for his invention

of the so-called “infinitesimal

calculus” and the argument

that followed this, as both

Leibniz and Newton claimed

the discovery as their own. It

seems clear that they had in

fact reached it independently,

but Leibniz developed a much

more usable notation which

is still used today.

Key works

1673 A Philosopher’s Creed

1685 Discourse on Metaphysics

1695 The New System

1710 Theodicy

1714 Monadology

the empiricists held that knowledge
is derived from experience, while
the rationalists claimed that
knowledge can be gained through
rational reflection alone.
Leibniz was a rationalist, and
his distinction between truths
of reasoning and truths of fact
marks an interesting twist in the
debate between rationalism and
empiricism. His claim, which he
makes in most famous work, the
Monadology, is that in principle
all knowledge can be accessed by
rational reflection. However, due
to shortcomings in our rational ❯❯

RENAISSANCE AND THE AGE OF REASON

We know hardly anything

adequately, few things

a priori, and most things

through experience.

Gottfried Wilhelm

Leibniz

Every thing in the world

has a distinct notion.

This notion contains every

truth about that thing,

including its connections

to other things.

When the analysis is

finite, we can reach

the final truth.

We can analyze these

connections through

rational reflection.

When the analysis is

infinite, we cannot reach the

final truth through reasoning—

only through experience.

These are truths

of reasoning.

These are truths

of fact.