Leibniz’s Legacy and Impact

This volume tells the story of the legacy and impact of the great German polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716). Leibniz made significant contributions to many areas, including philosophy, mathematics, political and social theory, theology, and various sciences. The essays in this volume explores the effects of Leibniz’s profound insights on subsequent generations of thinkers by tracing the ways in which his ideas have been defended and developed in the three centuries since his death. Each of the 11 essays is concerned with Leibniz’s legacy and impact in a particular area, and between them they show not just the depth of Leibniz’s talents but also the extent to which he shaped the various domains to which he contributed, and in some cases continues to shape them today. With essays written by experts such as Nicholas Jolley, Pauline Phemister, and Philip Beeley, this volume is essential reading not just for students of Leibniz but also for those who wish to understand the game-changing impact made by one of history’s true universal geniuses.

Introduction: Making Waves: Leibniz’s Legacy and ImpactLloyd Strickland and Julia WeckendPart I: Early ReceptionsLeibniz and the Royal Society RevisitedPhilip BeeleyStaying Optimistic! The Trials and Tribulations of Leibnizian OptimismLloyd StricklandOn Leibniz and Hume – A Point of ContactJulia WeckendKant’s "True Apology for Leibniz"Nicholas JolleyPart II: Legacy in Science and MetaphysicsLeibnizian Conservation in d’Alembert’s Traité de dynamiqueTzuchien ThoRussian LeibnizianismFrédéric TremblayMonkeys and Monads: The Unexpected Marriage between Darwinian Evolutionary Theory and Leibnizian MetaphysicsJeremy Dunham"The point of view is in the body": Leibnizian Perspectivism in Contemporary AnthropologiesArnaud PelletierPart III: Impact in Law, Political Thought and EcologyThe Impact of Leibniz’s Geometric Method for the LawChristopher JohnsLeibniz and Political ThoughtDouglas MoggachTheoria cum praxi: Leibniz’s Legacy into the FuturePauline Phemister

Lloyd Strickland is Professor of Philosophy and Intellectual History at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK). His principal research interests are Early Modern Philosophy (especially Leibniz), and Philosophy of Religion. In addition to numerous journal articles he has published nine books, including Leibniz Reinterpreted (2006), Leibniz and the Two Sophies (2011), Leibniz’s Monadology (2014), Leibniz on God and Religion (2016), Tercentenary Essays on the Philosophy and Science of Leibniz (2017, with Julia Weckend and Erik Vynckier), Proofs of God in Early Modern Europe (2018), and Leibniz's Key Philosophical Writings (2019, with Paul Lodge). He also runs a website which contains many of his translations of Leibniz’s writings: http://www.leibniz-translations.comJulia Weckend has taught philosophy at the Universities of Southampton and Reading before joining Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education as a tutor in 2014. Her research interests are Early Modern Philosophy, in particular Leibnizian metaphysics and epistemology. Her publications include papers on Leibniz’s notions of freedom and possibility, Leibniz’s notion of certainty, and a new translation of Leibniz’s "On the True Mystical Theology" to be found in Lloyd Strickland’s volume Leibniz on God and Religion (2016). She is the co-editor of Tercentenary Essays on the Philosophy and Science of Leibniz (2016).