Theodicy by Gottfried Leibniz

Theodicy by Gottfried Leibniz

In order to be truly free, must you act arbitrarily? If an event did not happen, could it have happened? Since there is evil, and God could have made the world without evil, did God fail to pick the best course? Grappling with such simple--yet still intriguing--puzzles, Leibniz was able to present attractively his new theories of the real and the phenomenal, freewill and determinism, and the relation between minds and bodies. Theodicy was Leibniz's only book-length work to be published in his lifetime, and for many years the work by which he was known to the world. Fully at home with the latest scienctific advances, Leibniz ultimately rejected the new atomistic philosophies of Descartes, Gassendi, and Hobbes, and drew upon the old cosmology of Aristotelian scholasticism. There could be no conflict, he argued between faith and reason, freedom and necessity, natural and divine law. Ingeniously defending his postulate of pre-established harmony, Leibniz made important advances in the precise analysis of concepts.

GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEIBNIZ was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646. Showing signs of a prodigious intellect even at an early age, Leibniz entered the University of Leipzig at fifteen to study law, mathematics, and phi-losophy. Since Leipzig refused to grant him a doctoral degree because of his youth, Leibniz transferred to the University at Altdorf, near Nuremberg, where he received his doctorate in 1666, before his twenty-first birthday.

Shortly thereafter, Leibniz entered the civil service, first with the Elector of Mainz and later with the ducal family of Braunschweig-Lueneburg. Leibniz's diplomatic missions took him to Paris, London, Amsterdam, and finally, Hanover, where he made his home. Opportunities for travel brought Leibniz into contact with the leading luminaries of the day, including the philosophers Nicolas de Malebranche and Baruch de Spinoza, and the mathematician Christiaan Huygens. A true polymath, Leibniz wrote ex-tensively on legal, cultural, and political affairs; compiled an official history of the Braunschweig family; and made seminal contributions to mathematics, theology, and phi-losophy. In his two great philosophical works, the Discourse on Metaphysics and the Monadology, Leibniz outlined his metaphysical system, including his conception of physical substance, the motion and resistance of bodies, and the role of the divine within the dynamic universe.

For his diplomatic and scholarly achievements, Leibniz was honored by being made a member of the Academy of Sciences in Paris, president of the Berlin Academy, privy councillor to royalty, and a baronet of the empire. Yet Leibniz's last years were dogged by illness and increasing neglect by those who regarded him as heterodox in religion. He died in Hanover on November 14, 1716.

Leibniz's other works include a code of international law; Systema theologicum (1687); and Essais de theodicee (1710), his most important work in theology.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780875484372
ISBN 10	0875484379
Title	Theodicy
Author	Gottfried Leibniz
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Open Court Publishing Co ,U.S.
Year published	1999-02-11
Number of pages	448
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable