E-Book Overview
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.
E-Book Content
Leibniz: Nature and Freedom
Donald Rutherford J. A. Cover, Editors
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LEIBNIZ
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LEIBNIZ Nature and Freedom
EDITED BY
Donald Rutherford and J. A. Cover
1
2005
1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright # 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Leibniz : nature and freedom / edited by Donald Rutherford and J.A. Cover. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13 978-0-19-514374-4; 978-0-19-514375-1 (pbk.) ISBN 0-19-514374-4; 0-19-514375-2 (pbk.) 1. Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Freiherr von, 1646–1716. 2. Free will and determinism. 3. Philosophy of nature. I. Rutherford, Donald, 1957– II. Cover, J. A. (Jan A.), 1958– B2599 .F7L45 2005 193—dc22 2004050094
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
For R. C. Sleigh, Jr. Teacher, Colleague, Friend
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Preface
This volume of new essays is intended to provide a timely picture of the current state of scholarship on Leibniz’s metaphysics. We are grateful to the authors for contributing to the collection. We would also like to thank Daniel Garber and Robert M. Adams for their sound advice in the early stages of the project; Matthew Kisner, for his assistance in preparing the typescript for publication; and Peter Ohlin of Oxford University Press, for his enthusiasm and patience. Finally, we are especially thankful to Madeleine Picciotto and Karen Cover, for their inextinguishable good humor and support in the face of challenges to completing this project: overcommitment, physical injury, and stubbornness. The contributions of Robert C. Sleigh, Jr., to