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"Leibniz Re-interpreted" tackles head on the central idea in Leibniz's philosophy, namely that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Strickland argues that Leibniz's theory has been consistently misunderstood by previous commentators. In the process Strickland provides both an elucidation and reinterpretation of a number of concepts central to Leibniz's work, such as "richness", "simplicity", "harmony" and "incompossibility", and shows where previous attempts to explain these concepts have failed. Thus the book provides an unignorable reinterpretation of many of the core themes of Leibniz's philosophy. This clear and concise study is tightly focussed and assumes no prior acquaintance with Leibniz or optimism. It thus serves as an ideal entry point into Leibniz's philosophy.
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LEIBNIZ REINTERPRETED
Related titles Leibniz: A Guide For The Perplexed (2007) - Franklin Perkins Shorter LeibnizTexts (2006) - Lloyd Strickland Also by Continuum Wittgenstein at His Word (2004) - Duncan Ritcher Thomas Kuhn's Revolution (2005) - James Marcum
LEIBNIZ REINTERPRETED
LLOYD STRICKLAND
continuum
Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 11 York Road London, SE1 7NX
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© Lloyd Strickland 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Lloyd Strickland has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. British Library Gataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 0-8264-9028-X (hardback)
Typeset by BookEns Ltd, Royston, Herts. Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall
For Pam
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Contents
Acknowledgements Abbreviations
ix xi
1 Introduction
1
2 The Grounds for Optimism
7
3 The Perfection of Things
13
4 The Perfection of Worlds I: Richness
43
5 The Perfection of Worlds II: Simplicity
67
6 The Harmony of Things
93
7 Does the World Increase in Perfection?
115
8 Conclusion
143
Index Locorum Bibliography Index
153 167 171
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Acknowledgements Parts of Chapter 7 first appeared in my article 'Leibniz on whether the world increases in perfection', published in the British Journal for the History of Philosophy. I would like to thank the editor of that journal, Professor John Rogers, for giving me permission to use some of the material from that paper in this volume. I would also like to thank Stuart Brown, Gavin Hyman, Vernon Pratt, Patrick Sherry and Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad for their comments on earlier drafts of various parts of this book, and Harry Parkinson, John Thorley and Elizabeth Vinestock for looking over some of my translations.
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Abbreviations References to works by Leibniz are abbreviated as follows: A
AG BC BH
C CWR D DM Dn
E FB FC G GM Gr GW
Samtliche Schriften und Briefe (ed. Akademie der Wissenschaften), multiple volumes in 6 series, cited by series (reihe) and volume (band), Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1923-. Philosophical Essays (trans. Roger Ariew and Daniel Garber), Indianapolis: Hackett, 1989. Hauptschriften zur Grundlegung der Philosophic (ed. A Buchenau), 2 volumes, Hamburg: Verlag von Felix Meiner, 1906. Die Leibniz-Handschriftender Koniglich