What do you think?
Rate this book
Leibniz: An Intellectual Biography
Of all the thinkers of the century of genius that inaugurated modern philosophy, none lived an intellectual life more rich and varied than Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716). Trained as a jurist and employed as a counsellor, librarian, and historian, he made famous contributions to logic, mathematics, physics, and metaphysics, yet viewed his own aspirations as ultimately ethical and theological, and married these theoretical concerns with politics, diplomacy, and an equally broad range of practical juridical, economic, administrative, technological, medical, and ecclesiastical. Maria Rosa Antognazza’s pioneering biography not only surveys the full breadth and depth of these theoretical interests and practical activities, it also weaves them together for the first time into a unified portrait of this unique thinker and the world from which he came. At the centre of the huge range of Leibniz’s apparently miscellaneous endeavours, Antognazza reveals a single master project lending unity to his extraordinarily multifaceted life’s work. Throughout the vicissitudes of his long life, Leibniz tenaciously pursued the dream of a systematic reform and advancement of all the sciences, to be undertaken as a collaborative enterprise supported by an enlightened ruler; these theoretical pursuits were in turn ultimately grounded in a practical the improvement of the human condition and thereby the celebration of the glory of God in His creation. As well as tracing the threads of continuity that bound these theoretical and practical activities to this all-embracing plan, this illuminating study also traces these threads back into the intellectual traditions of the Holy Roman Empire in which Leibniz lived and throughout the broader intellectual networks that linked him to patrons in countries as distant as Russia and to correspondents as far afield as China.
652 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2008
36 people are currently reading
472 people want to read
About the author
Maria Rosa Antognazza
10 books4 followersProfessor Maria Rosa Antognazza is Professor of Philosophy at King's College London. She was educated at the Catholic University of Milan and has held research and visiting fellowships in Italy, Germany, Israel, Great Britain, and the USA, including a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, a two-year research fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust, and the Leibniz-Professorship in Leipzig in 2016.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 30, 2019
Özellikle Newton’la olan amansız mücadelesiyle ve matematiğe yaptığı olağanüstü katkıyla tanınan ünlü Alman filozof Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’in hayatını anlatan Maria Rosa Antognazza’nın aynı adlı kitabı "Leibniz", Leibniz’in çalışmalarını, felsefesini ve tarihe yaptığı katkıları oldukça akıcı bir dille okuyucuya sunan başarılı bir biyografi örneği. Leibniz denilince aslında akla gelen önemli şey ansiklopedi. Bilginin mutluluğa eşit olduğunu savunan ünlü filozofun hayatının tek amacı bilgiyi insanlara aktararak evrene yararlı olmak. Bunu yaparken de evrensel bir dilin gerekli olduğuna ve bu şekilde dünyanın tüm problemlerini çözebileceğini düşündüğü bir felsefesi var. Bu yüzden Çince gibi sembolik dillere ilgi duyan Leibniz, bir yandan evrensel karakterler hakkında çalışmalarını devam ettirirken diğer yandan da bu özelliğini matematik alanında kullanmaya başlıyor.
Pascal’ın bulduğu hesap makinesini integral ve diferansiyel kavramlarıyla geliştirerek insanlığa büyük bir armağan veren Leibniz, bugün günümüzde kullandığımız başta integral ve diferansiyel olmak üzere birçok sembolün yaratıcısı olarak alanında çığır açıyor. Ünlü düşünürün hesap makinesini bulduğu zamanlarda Newton’un da hesap makinesini bulması ise büyük bir soruna neden oluyor. Hesap makinesini bulan ilk kişinin nasıl belirleneceği. Newton’la Leibniz arasında kavga ölümlerine hatta ölümlerinden sonrasına kadar devam ettiğini bilmek gerçekten üzücü. Öte yandan, Leibniz’in sembollere ve dillere olan merakı sayesinde ortaya çıkan bir diğer mucizenin de binary notation olduğunu söylemekte fayda var. Sayıların sadece 1 ve 0 ile temsil edildiği binary notation’la Leibniz’i daha o zamanlarda bilgisayarının temelini attığını söyleyebiliriz.
Bilginin tek bir çatı altında birleştirilmesi gerektiğini savunan Leibniz’in bu felsefesi sayesinde ansiklopedi ve kütüphane kavramlarına da ön ayak olduğunu söyleyebiliriz. Hayatını Guelph tarihini yazmakla harcayan Leibniz, bu yolculuğunda Kutsal Roma İmparatorluğundan İngiltere Krallığı’na kadar bir sürü imparatora hizmette bulunuyor. Hatta İngiltere Kraliçesi Anne’in tahta geçmesinin en büyük mimarının Leibniz olduğunu görüyoruz. Başımıza gelenlerin iyi bir sebebi olduğunu savunan Leibniz, optimist bir tutum sergilerken diğer yandan da Tanrı'nın en iyinin içinde bulunduğunu belirtiyor. Buna rağmen kendini John Locke başta olmak üzere yaptığı için kıymetinin zamanına göre pek de bilinmediği Leibniz’in değerinin yıllar sonra anlaşılması gerçekten çok üzücü.
İstanbul, Türkiye
22.05.2019
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
Pascal’ın bulduğu hesap makinesini integral ve diferansiyel kavramlarıyla geliştirerek insanlığa büyük bir armağan veren Leibniz, bugün günümüzde kullandığımız başta integral ve diferansiyel olmak üzere birçok sembolün yaratıcısı olarak alanında çığır açıyor. Ünlü düşünürün hesap makinesini bulduğu zamanlarda Newton’un da hesap makinesini bulması ise büyük bir soruna neden oluyor. Hesap makinesini bulan ilk kişinin nasıl belirleneceği. Newton’la Leibniz arasında kavga ölümlerine hatta ölümlerinden sonrasına kadar devam ettiğini bilmek gerçekten üzücü. Öte yandan, Leibniz’in sembollere ve dillere olan merakı sayesinde ortaya çıkan bir diğer mucizenin de binary notation olduğunu söylemekte fayda var. Sayıların sadece 1 ve 0 ile temsil edildiği binary notation’la Leibniz’i daha o zamanlarda bilgisayarının temelini attığını söyleyebiliriz.
Bilginin tek bir çatı altında birleştirilmesi gerektiğini savunan Leibniz’in bu felsefesi sayesinde ansiklopedi ve kütüphane kavramlarına da ön ayak olduğunu söyleyebiliriz. Hayatını Guelph tarihini yazmakla harcayan Leibniz, bu yolculuğunda Kutsal Roma İmparatorluğundan İngiltere Krallığı’na kadar bir sürü imparatora hizmette bulunuyor. Hatta İngiltere Kraliçesi Anne’in tahta geçmesinin en büyük mimarının Leibniz olduğunu görüyoruz. Başımıza gelenlerin iyi bir sebebi olduğunu savunan Leibniz, optimist bir tutum sergilerken diğer yandan da Tanrı'nın en iyinin içinde bulunduğunu belirtiyor. Buna rağmen kendini John Locke başta olmak üzere yaptığı için kıymetinin zamanına göre pek de bilinmediği Leibniz’in değerinin yıllar sonra anlaşılması gerçekten çok üzücü.
İstanbul, Türkiye
22.05.2019
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
January 18, 2020
"Leibniz. Biografia intelektualna" to nie jest raczej książka, którą należy przeczytać. Być może wypada ją posiadać, a zapewne czasem do niej sięgać. Raczej nie zainteresuje czytelników klasycznych biografii. Stanowi jednak bezcenne źródło wiedzy o dziedzictwie Leibniza, sposobie uprawiania nauki w drugiej połowie XVII wieku, mechanizmach wczesno-oświeceniowego mecenatu i sytuacji polityczno-religijnej na terenie księstw Święte Cesarstwo Rzymskie Narodu Niemieckiego. Jest więc źródłem wiedzy dla historyków, filozofów, teologów i wszystkich badaczy rozwoju myśli nowożytnej. Dla filozof Marii Rosy Antognazzi biografia ta stanowiła element pracy naukowej z Leibnizem, jako centralnym punktem dociekań akademickich.
Leibniz w życiu napisał około 15000 listów do cesarzy, książąt, dyplomatów, profesorów, kardynałów czy kolegów filozofów przyrody. Interesował się właściwie wszystkim, a to jego zainteresowanie miało przełożenie na treść korespondencji. Autorka sporą cześć analizy dziedzictwa Leibniza oparła właśnie na korespondencji, którą przedstawiła chronologicznie. Stąd wynika mój główny zarzut metodologiczny do pracy. Ponieważ myśliciel w różnych okresach życia wracał do pewnych tematów, Antognazza również to robiła opisując je i analizując ponownie. Jednak niemal nie posiłkowała się metodą porównawczą i syntezą. Postawiła na suche zreferowanie wznawianych przemyśleń Leibniza. Przez to spore partie materiału stawały się dla mnie nudne. To nie do końca jej wina. Autorka nie miała łatwego zadania, widać jej tytaniczną pracę. Przy takim sposobie życia, jaki preferował Leibniz, napisanie 'normalnej' biografii mogło stanowić kluczową trudność. Nie jest to więc klasyczna literacka biografia, tylko raczej akademicka źródłowa baza do syntetycznego ujęcia myśli Leibniza.
Z lektury książki wyłonił się obraz człowieka zapracowanego, błyskotliwego i pełnego planów poprawy życia każdego. Naczelną zasadą była dla Leibniza realizacja woli Boga, którą rozumiał, jako etyczne i religijne życie. Do wypełnienia tego zadania, potrzebował rozwijać filozofię, teologię, matematykę, fizykę, historię czy językoznawstwo. Ponieważ wyrósł w Europie wykrwawionej wojną trzydziestoletnią, za punkt honoru stawiał sobie pracę nad likwidacją uprzedzeń i różnic dogmatycznych nawarstwionych między wyznaniami chrześcijańskimi.
Najciekawszym elementami książki była dworska obyczajowość i niepewny status społeczny myślicieli w XVII-wiecznej Europie Środkowej. Intelektualiści z reguły byli na usługach władców, którzy czasem nie doceniali lotności umysłu takich wybitnych jednostek. Leibniz nie był bogaty i by się utrzymać, musiał lawirować, realizując zachcianki swego chlebodawcy (w jego przypadku było to badanie genealogii Welfów z Hanoweru, by udokumentować ich pretensje dziedziczne do tronu sąsiednich księstw Rzeszy).
Mój główny merytoryczny zarzut do pracy autorki, wiąże się z jej opisem wkładu Leibniza w stworzenie rachunku różniczkowego i całkowego. Poświęciła mu formalnie kilka stron (str. 203-207) plus kilka krótkich wzmianek w związku ze sporem z Newtonem o pierwszeństwo jego sformułowania. Antognazza, jako filozof, właściwie nie udźwignęła tematu matematyczno-fizycznego. Jest to o tyle istotne, że wkład bohatera biografii w tych dziedzinach jest wymierny i o użytkowych zastosowaniach, czego nie można powiedzieć o setkach koncepcji filozoficznych, które z reguły były jednymi z wielu dostępnych wtedy 'na rynku intelektualnym' (w tym samym okresie tworzyli Spinoza, Kartezjusz, Locke, Hobbes). Nie opisała sposobu dochodzenia do istoty odkrycia rachunku, a przy okazji nie przetłumaczyła XVII-wiecznych, pojęć niestosowanych już współcześnie, na język zrozumiały. Podobnie postąpiła z opisem swobodnego spadku, którego Leibniz jest odkrywcą (ze słów autorki tego się wprost nie dowiemy); dostajemy tylko nieskomentowane pojęcia 'ilość siły' czy 'ilość ruchu' (str. 362), które nic nie mówią osobie bez podstaw z historii nauki.
Rekapitulując. Książka raczej nudna, przesadnie detaliczna i pozbawiona syntezy. Liczyłem na coś innego. Nie namawiam do zakupu (szczególnie w horrendalnej cenie okładkowej - 129,9), chyba że ktoś jest zafascynowany bohaterem. Lepiej poczekać na zasoby biblioteczne (gdzie jej miejsce) i wypożyczyć.
===========
Może jeszcze na koniec dwa cytaty, z przytoczonych w książce epistolarnych perełek Leibniza:
"Znaczenie życia danej osoby można ocenić jedynie przez pryzmat mnogości jej działań. Czas wydaje się wielki jedynie dzięki wielości zmian, które się w nim dokonują. Możemy sami określić, jak długo żyjemy: wystarczy, że wypełniamy treścią nawet najmniejszą cząstkę danej nam chwili." (str. 193)
"Niezmącony spokój to krok na drodze do głupoty [...] Należy zawsze znaleźć sobie jakąś pracę, jakiś temat do rozważań, jakiś plan, poświęcić się społeczności i jednostkom, jednak w taki sposób, abyśmy radowali się, gdy nasze życzenia się spełnią, ale nie smucili, gdy do tego nie dojdzie." (str. 620)
ŚREDNIE - 5.5/10
Leibniz w życiu napisał około 15000 listów do cesarzy, książąt, dyplomatów, profesorów, kardynałów czy kolegów filozofów przyrody. Interesował się właściwie wszystkim, a to jego zainteresowanie miało przełożenie na treść korespondencji. Autorka sporą cześć analizy dziedzictwa Leibniza oparła właśnie na korespondencji, którą przedstawiła chronologicznie. Stąd wynika mój główny zarzut metodologiczny do pracy. Ponieważ myśliciel w różnych okresach życia wracał do pewnych tematów, Antognazza również to robiła opisując je i analizując ponownie. Jednak niemal nie posiłkowała się metodą porównawczą i syntezą. Postawiła na suche zreferowanie wznawianych przemyśleń Leibniza. Przez to spore partie materiału stawały się dla mnie nudne. To nie do końca jej wina. Autorka nie miała łatwego zadania, widać jej tytaniczną pracę. Przy takim sposobie życia, jaki preferował Leibniz, napisanie 'normalnej' biografii mogło stanowić kluczową trudność. Nie jest to więc klasyczna literacka biografia, tylko raczej akademicka źródłowa baza do syntetycznego ujęcia myśli Leibniza.
Z lektury książki wyłonił się obraz człowieka zapracowanego, błyskotliwego i pełnego planów poprawy życia każdego. Naczelną zasadą była dla Leibniza realizacja woli Boga, którą rozumiał, jako etyczne i religijne życie. Do wypełnienia tego zadania, potrzebował rozwijać filozofię, teologię, matematykę, fizykę, historię czy językoznawstwo. Ponieważ wyrósł w Europie wykrwawionej wojną trzydziestoletnią, za punkt honoru stawiał sobie pracę nad likwidacją uprzedzeń i różnic dogmatycznych nawarstwionych między wyznaniami chrześcijańskimi.
Najciekawszym elementami książki była dworska obyczajowość i niepewny status społeczny myślicieli w XVII-wiecznej Europie Środkowej. Intelektualiści z reguły byli na usługach władców, którzy czasem nie doceniali lotności umysłu takich wybitnych jednostek. Leibniz nie był bogaty i by się utrzymać, musiał lawirować, realizując zachcianki swego chlebodawcy (w jego przypadku było to badanie genealogii Welfów z Hanoweru, by udokumentować ich pretensje dziedziczne do tronu sąsiednich księstw Rzeszy).
Mój główny merytoryczny zarzut do pracy autorki, wiąże się z jej opisem wkładu Leibniza w stworzenie rachunku różniczkowego i całkowego. Poświęciła mu formalnie kilka stron (str. 203-207) plus kilka krótkich wzmianek w związku ze sporem z Newtonem o pierwszeństwo jego sformułowania. Antognazza, jako filozof, właściwie nie udźwignęła tematu matematyczno-fizycznego. Jest to o tyle istotne, że wkład bohatera biografii w tych dziedzinach jest wymierny i o użytkowych zastosowaniach, czego nie można powiedzieć o setkach koncepcji filozoficznych, które z reguły były jednymi z wielu dostępnych wtedy 'na rynku intelektualnym' (w tym samym okresie tworzyli Spinoza, Kartezjusz, Locke, Hobbes). Nie opisała sposobu dochodzenia do istoty odkrycia rachunku, a przy okazji nie przetłumaczyła XVII-wiecznych, pojęć niestosowanych już współcześnie, na język zrozumiały. Podobnie postąpiła z opisem swobodnego spadku, którego Leibniz jest odkrywcą (ze słów autorki tego się wprost nie dowiemy); dostajemy tylko nieskomentowane pojęcia 'ilość siły' czy 'ilość ruchu' (str. 362), które nic nie mówią osobie bez podstaw z historii nauki.
Rekapitulując. Książka raczej nudna, przesadnie detaliczna i pozbawiona syntezy. Liczyłem na coś innego. Nie namawiam do zakupu (szczególnie w horrendalnej cenie okładkowej - 129,9), chyba że ktoś jest zafascynowany bohaterem. Lepiej poczekać na zasoby biblioteczne (gdzie jej miejsce) i wypożyczyć.
===========
Może jeszcze na koniec dwa cytaty, z przytoczonych w książce epistolarnych perełek Leibniza:
"Znaczenie życia danej osoby można ocenić jedynie przez pryzmat mnogości jej działań. Czas wydaje się wielki jedynie dzięki wielości zmian, które się w nim dokonują. Możemy sami określić, jak długo żyjemy: wystarczy, że wypełniamy treścią nawet najmniejszą cząstkę danej nam chwili." (str. 193)
"Niezmącony spokój to krok na drodze do głupoty [...] Należy zawsze znaleźć sobie jakąś pracę, jakiś temat do rozważań, jakiś plan, poświęcić się społeczności i jednostkom, jednak w taki sposób, abyśmy radowali się, gdy nasze życzenia się spełnią, ale nie smucili, gdy do tego nie dojdzie." (str. 620)
ŚREDNIE - 5.5/10
June 23, 2023
Hur skiver man en biografi om en person som idag är känd för sin filosofi, men som också var doktor i juridik, gjorde viktiga upptäckter inom matematiken, var djupt involverad inom sin tids politiska spel och som skrev om allt från teologi till fysik? Med stor svårighet är svaret, men författaren gör ändå ett bra försök att både redovisa för Leibniz fulla intellektuella liv, vilket få tidigare författare ens har försökt, och dessutom visa hur hans tankar hängde samman också mellan ämnen som kan tyckas helt orelaterade till varandra.
Antognazza visar tydligt hur Leibniz intellektuella projekt och upptäckter syftar till att stödja hans politiska projekt, som innefattar en återförening av de kristna kyrkorna i syfte att undvika nya religionskrig av det slag som präglade generationen före honom under det 30-åriga kriget, samt ett mål om att stötta det existerande politiska systemet genom att presentera sin samtid som "den bästa av världar".
Boken beskriver som sagt ett oerhört brett fält av ämnen, vilket är nödvändigt för att ge en komplett bild av Leibniz tänkande och för att driva hem bokens tes att hans tänkande var ett sammanhängande system. Bredden av ämnen gör dock att boken av nödvändighet låter bli att förklara mycket av den omkringliggande kontexten, boken hade helt enkelt blivit för lång annars. Historiska personer och händelser refereras till utan förklaring, om författaren tycker att du som läsare bör känna till dem. För den som inte är bekant sedan tidigare med Europeisk tidigmodern historia så är den här boken därför inte att rekommendera. Men om du är intresserad av ämnet så är det ingen tvekan om att boken utgör ett imponerande historiskt hantverk.
Antognazza visar tydligt hur Leibniz intellektuella projekt och upptäckter syftar till att stödja hans politiska projekt, som innefattar en återförening av de kristna kyrkorna i syfte att undvika nya religionskrig av det slag som präglade generationen före honom under det 30-åriga kriget, samt ett mål om att stötta det existerande politiska systemet genom att presentera sin samtid som "den bästa av världar".
Boken beskriver som sagt ett oerhört brett fält av ämnen, vilket är nödvändigt för att ge en komplett bild av Leibniz tänkande och för att driva hem bokens tes att hans tänkande var ett sammanhängande system. Bredden av ämnen gör dock att boken av nödvändighet låter bli att förklara mycket av den omkringliggande kontexten, boken hade helt enkelt blivit för lång annars. Historiska personer och händelser refereras till utan förklaring, om författaren tycker att du som läsare bör känna till dem. För den som inte är bekant sedan tidigare med Europeisk tidigmodern historia så är den här boken därför inte att rekommendera. Men om du är intresserad av ämnet så är det ingen tvekan om att boken utgör ett imponerande historiskt hantverk.
May 12, 2023
I was motivated to read this biography because of encountering so many references to Leibniz in other general philosophical reading. Eventually, I succumbed to the need for finding out more about this mysterious historical person who seems to have views in so many different arenas of intellectual endeavor. As it turns out, my investment in this book was also rewarded by the fact that the setting largely encompasses the geography within which I expect to be traveling soon. Leibniz lived in what was known as the Holy Roman Empire, a label that Voltaire famously proclaimed was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire, and which was eventually obliterated by Napoleon and others more than a century after Leibniz’s death.
Religious Disputes
This book provides much insight into the religious tensions that kept the European world in knots of conflict during Leibniz’s lifetime. These religious conflicts are all the more interesting because Leibniz was a Protestant who never succumbed to the immense pressures to convert to Catholicism. However, Leibniz also didn’t seem strongly committed to the rigorous rituals common for Protestants of this time. Truly, Leibniz was, like me, a believer in ecumenicalism, and the need for societies to dismiss divisive theologies that promote religious factions.
Leibniz lived in a time of scientific revolution that naturally precipitated the great divisions in religion. The discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo and others created a natural need for reformation against the intractable positions of the Catholic Church. Perhaps the most bizarre of these positions is the understanding of holy communion that still persists in the concept of transubstantiation. It’s quite amazing that even today people still debate the ritualistic symbology involved with ingesting the spirit of Christ versus the idea that the actual body and blood of Christ are realistically cannibalized in this ritual.
One prevailing theme emerging from this biography is the extent to which the Protestant-Catholic divisions of Christianity produced almost constant warfare and conflict in Europe. These conflicts can be viewed as resistance to change, as one camp wishes to affirm a static belief system, intransigent against any sort of change, while the other seeks to adapt their religion to the realities of the modern world. In many ways, this same argument persists in today’s politics, with liberals seeking new social arrangements and conservatives blasting them for trying to overturn established ways of thinking.
Leibniz was born less than 50 years after Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) was burned at the stake by the Catholic Church in the Italian square known as Campo de’ Fiori. This author actually lists Bruno among the early influencers upon Leibniz. One must wonder why Bruno would be burned while someone like Leibniz could hold highly unorthodox and speculative beliefs without meeting the same fate. The answer lies in Leibniz’s persistent attempts to synthesize his belief system back into that of the Catholic Church in an attempt to formulate a universal, unified church.
Bruno’s heresy was obviously much more radical, including outright denial of core Catholic doctrines, including that of eternal damnation, the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary, and transubstantiation, but these are positions that many openly question today, including myself. And even though Leibniz was not burned like Bruno, the reader of his biography can easily see that his abilities were restrained by his constant need to synthesize his viewpoints back into the central religious doctrines of the time. Clearly, the historical doctrines and mythologies formulated and enforced by mankind (for they are certainly not the dictates of God) have retarded the progress of humanity for hundreds of years, and perhaps no better example exists of such retardation than in the life of Leibniz.
The Calvinistic idea of the “elect” is another controversial issue that likely stemmed from the ideas surrounding hereditary monarchy, which we now know to be absolutely untenable by the fact that so many monarchs were incapable, slothful, and void of any prominent characteristics that would suggest their capacity to govern. Understanding God’s omniscience requires recognition that everything is pre-known, however, that doesn’t preclude the necessity for growing one’s spirit in this life. Just because God knows who will succeed and who will fail doesn’t mean that one’s efforts should be arbitrarily dismissed.
One born with slower legs (or intransigent spirit) must nevertheless run the race, for it is a race against ourselves more than it is a race against others. Truly, it is less a race than it is a test: a test to ascertain whether or not the runner inherently believes the expenditure of effort to be a worthy endeavor. This process identifies souls that have come to recognize goodness volitionally, purposefully choosing to adhere to it, coming to understand the pitfalls of self-righteousness, sustaining humility, and actively seeking the promotion of goodwill. Our task is not to fight over unproven contentions, but rather to seek cooperatively in becoming closer to God by knowing God better. This is the intended goal for the soul in this life.
Mutability & Reformation
We must all understand that everything is in flux, amidst constant change that is never static, and we must all be constantly adapting. The species that can’t or refuses to adapt ceases to exist. Our religions, constitutions, customs, cultures, laws, etc. all must undergo modification in time, as even our conception of God must. We are constantly learning more and more about God, as we ourselves grow spiritually. Certainly, we can see that the idea of God has progressed from that of a bearded old patriarch floating in the sky to that of an entity of good, spiritual energy, even in our own lifetimes. Instead of resisting change, we must learn to embrace change, to modify ourselves as necessary in the pursuit of a flourishing and excellent state of being. Each day brings us new challenges; each person we meet brings new ideas and new ways of being.
Because we live in a world that clearly evolves in constant change, reformation is essential. Static rules eventually grow obsolete as situations and circumstances evolve. Because our body and environment are constantly changing and everything is in flux, we err to grasp religion as static. Instead, we must allow religion to evolve with us, constantly contemplating its applicability to our modern lives and its effectiveness in the world. Essentially then, reformation is vital to religious practice and failure to embrace reformation leads to anachronistic principals, confused youth, superstitious congregations, and ultimately cultic extremism.
While Leibniz held extravagant ideas for a grand unification of all religions, such schemes, if successful, would obviously retard the process of human spiritual growth. The process of reformation, if it is to remain on-going, cannot be stifled by ecumenical attempts for a grand unification. Unification exists in the central recognition of God; but from there we must pursue and explore God in divergent ways because God is infinitely diverse, manifesting in countless different ways.
Instead of barring the way to salvation with our own culturally distinguished concepts, we should be attempting to understand new characteristics of God as revealed to us by other cultures, many of which are worthy of synthesizing into our own views. Because God is beyond our capability to fully understand, our task is to learn more and more - to seek God - and this necessarily involves constant reformation in religious systems because no current religious system is capable of putting God into a box or offering full explanation for all aspects of God. No one holds a patent on God. No one holds exclusive rights to God.
We should be inclined spiritually to think about how we define God. Do you think of God as creator, a consuming fire, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, as pantheistic, as personified, as ineffable, etc.? Is God the hard-nosed entity of the Old Testament requiring genocide and animal sacrifice or the loving, forgiving entity exemplified in Jesus in the New Testament? Spiritual growth occurs in time and depends upon how you recognize God, and whether or not you remain open to gaining increasing insight into your understanding of God.
Contrary to the eschatology so popular in modern religions, Leibniz believed that God had fashioned us within the best of all possible environments for cultivating our spiritual growth, thus explaining the necessity for evil and catastrophe in the world. Even though many insisted Leibniz’s point of view constituted a clash between dreams and reality, Leibniz could counter that it was no more of a dream than were the heavenly streets of gold or fiery hellish brimstone envisioned by the orthodox. For Leibniz, and for myself, the infinite nature of God demands this point of view because it is untenable that a perfect God could err in constructing the creation. Leibniz saw the world as unending progress toward better things.
However, Leibniz’s idea of a universal language and world church certainly would diminish creativity and lend itself to promoting a generic race of humans. We need diversity and change, as both are essential to the evolution of life. Language and religion are both susceptible to change, everything is. The world is fluid and attempts to make it static suffer rust and anachronistic decay. Life and intellectual achievement are founded in newness and fresh emergence. We advance through the fragments of ourselves that we leave behind for posterity in memories, writings, and achievements, all of which are criticized, improved upon, and adapted for an ever-progressing modernity.
Everything is ensconced within this process of change, which we tend to ignore because we subconsciously fear death. But diversity is not something that we should fear, rather it is a manifestation of the richness and fecundity of the creation. We cling to elements of tradition and familiarity like a bug on the window of a moving car that is eventually cast fiercely away by the accelerating vehicle when it could have easily let go sooner. Our religious and intellectual processes must come to anticipate change and evolution instead of clinging desperately to archaic doctrines that have long since proven themselves untenable.
Procrastination
Clearly, the failure to complete one task, the Guelf history, for which he was handsomely paid, ended up greatly hindering Leibniz’s career; for had he finished it in grandiose fashion, he would have naturally been elevated into very superior positions. Further, his repeated and protracted difficulty in completing his journeys and returning home in a timely manner also exacerbated his difficulties.
We have to be ready to leave when the time comes. Instead, Leibniz allowed himself to be plagued by procrastination, like an obese person that refuses exercise until the consequences ultimately cause their demise. Although Leibniz’s brain was capable of soaring ascendance, it seemed to lack the ability for sustained focus, which caused incompletion in most of his undertakings.
The reader is stimulated to ask themselves what unfinished tasks restrain their own life accomplishments: a failure to write their own novel, organize their estate, reconcile a troubled relationship, or get about the business of exploring the Godhead. Whatever it might be, get around to doing it, because the time for our exit from this dimension often arrives unexpectedly, like a thief in the night; or our faculties become compromised, preventing us from finishing important tasks, as happened to Leibniz. Procrastination is a sacrifice of a portion of the time that you have to live in this dimension, and it is therefore a sacrifice of a portion of your life. Because we have only a finite amount of time in this life, all endeavors are essentially a sacrifice for something or other, whether it be to pursue wealth, chase women, daydream, or wander about aimlessly.
Gather the consciousness necessary to recognize the precious value in the time you are sacrificing and the cognizance to evaluate the worthiness of the endeavor for which you are spending your time. Leibniz seemed to embrace Augustine’s idea that God was in the process of creating a society of intelligent spirits to populate a City of God with whom He might dwell, and that this life was a period of qualification for the spirt to exhibit compatibility within such a society. Allow yourself to be admitted into good society.
-End-
Religious Disputes
This book provides much insight into the religious tensions that kept the European world in knots of conflict during Leibniz’s lifetime. These religious conflicts are all the more interesting because Leibniz was a Protestant who never succumbed to the immense pressures to convert to Catholicism. However, Leibniz also didn’t seem strongly committed to the rigorous rituals common for Protestants of this time. Truly, Leibniz was, like me, a believer in ecumenicalism, and the need for societies to dismiss divisive theologies that promote religious factions.
Leibniz lived in a time of scientific revolution that naturally precipitated the great divisions in religion. The discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo and others created a natural need for reformation against the intractable positions of the Catholic Church. Perhaps the most bizarre of these positions is the understanding of holy communion that still persists in the concept of transubstantiation. It’s quite amazing that even today people still debate the ritualistic symbology involved with ingesting the spirit of Christ versus the idea that the actual body and blood of Christ are realistically cannibalized in this ritual.
One prevailing theme emerging from this biography is the extent to which the Protestant-Catholic divisions of Christianity produced almost constant warfare and conflict in Europe. These conflicts can be viewed as resistance to change, as one camp wishes to affirm a static belief system, intransigent against any sort of change, while the other seeks to adapt their religion to the realities of the modern world. In many ways, this same argument persists in today’s politics, with liberals seeking new social arrangements and conservatives blasting them for trying to overturn established ways of thinking.
Leibniz was born less than 50 years after Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) was burned at the stake by the Catholic Church in the Italian square known as Campo de’ Fiori. This author actually lists Bruno among the early influencers upon Leibniz. One must wonder why Bruno would be burned while someone like Leibniz could hold highly unorthodox and speculative beliefs without meeting the same fate. The answer lies in Leibniz’s persistent attempts to synthesize his belief system back into that of the Catholic Church in an attempt to formulate a universal, unified church.
Bruno’s heresy was obviously much more radical, including outright denial of core Catholic doctrines, including that of eternal damnation, the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary, and transubstantiation, but these are positions that many openly question today, including myself. And even though Leibniz was not burned like Bruno, the reader of his biography can easily see that his abilities were restrained by his constant need to synthesize his viewpoints back into the central religious doctrines of the time. Clearly, the historical doctrines and mythologies formulated and enforced by mankind (for they are certainly not the dictates of God) have retarded the progress of humanity for hundreds of years, and perhaps no better example exists of such retardation than in the life of Leibniz.
The Calvinistic idea of the “elect” is another controversial issue that likely stemmed from the ideas surrounding hereditary monarchy, which we now know to be absolutely untenable by the fact that so many monarchs were incapable, slothful, and void of any prominent characteristics that would suggest their capacity to govern. Understanding God’s omniscience requires recognition that everything is pre-known, however, that doesn’t preclude the necessity for growing one’s spirit in this life. Just because God knows who will succeed and who will fail doesn’t mean that one’s efforts should be arbitrarily dismissed.
One born with slower legs (or intransigent spirit) must nevertheless run the race, for it is a race against ourselves more than it is a race against others. Truly, it is less a race than it is a test: a test to ascertain whether or not the runner inherently believes the expenditure of effort to be a worthy endeavor. This process identifies souls that have come to recognize goodness volitionally, purposefully choosing to adhere to it, coming to understand the pitfalls of self-righteousness, sustaining humility, and actively seeking the promotion of goodwill. Our task is not to fight over unproven contentions, but rather to seek cooperatively in becoming closer to God by knowing God better. This is the intended goal for the soul in this life.
Mutability & Reformation
We must all understand that everything is in flux, amidst constant change that is never static, and we must all be constantly adapting. The species that can’t or refuses to adapt ceases to exist. Our religions, constitutions, customs, cultures, laws, etc. all must undergo modification in time, as even our conception of God must. We are constantly learning more and more about God, as we ourselves grow spiritually. Certainly, we can see that the idea of God has progressed from that of a bearded old patriarch floating in the sky to that of an entity of good, spiritual energy, even in our own lifetimes. Instead of resisting change, we must learn to embrace change, to modify ourselves as necessary in the pursuit of a flourishing and excellent state of being. Each day brings us new challenges; each person we meet brings new ideas and new ways of being.
Because we live in a world that clearly evolves in constant change, reformation is essential. Static rules eventually grow obsolete as situations and circumstances evolve. Because our body and environment are constantly changing and everything is in flux, we err to grasp religion as static. Instead, we must allow religion to evolve with us, constantly contemplating its applicability to our modern lives and its effectiveness in the world. Essentially then, reformation is vital to religious practice and failure to embrace reformation leads to anachronistic principals, confused youth, superstitious congregations, and ultimately cultic extremism.
While Leibniz held extravagant ideas for a grand unification of all religions, such schemes, if successful, would obviously retard the process of human spiritual growth. The process of reformation, if it is to remain on-going, cannot be stifled by ecumenical attempts for a grand unification. Unification exists in the central recognition of God; but from there we must pursue and explore God in divergent ways because God is infinitely diverse, manifesting in countless different ways.
Instead of barring the way to salvation with our own culturally distinguished concepts, we should be attempting to understand new characteristics of God as revealed to us by other cultures, many of which are worthy of synthesizing into our own views. Because God is beyond our capability to fully understand, our task is to learn more and more - to seek God - and this necessarily involves constant reformation in religious systems because no current religious system is capable of putting God into a box or offering full explanation for all aspects of God. No one holds a patent on God. No one holds exclusive rights to God.
We should be inclined spiritually to think about how we define God. Do you think of God as creator, a consuming fire, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, as pantheistic, as personified, as ineffable, etc.? Is God the hard-nosed entity of the Old Testament requiring genocide and animal sacrifice or the loving, forgiving entity exemplified in Jesus in the New Testament? Spiritual growth occurs in time and depends upon how you recognize God, and whether or not you remain open to gaining increasing insight into your understanding of God.
Contrary to the eschatology so popular in modern religions, Leibniz believed that God had fashioned us within the best of all possible environments for cultivating our spiritual growth, thus explaining the necessity for evil and catastrophe in the world. Even though many insisted Leibniz’s point of view constituted a clash between dreams and reality, Leibniz could counter that it was no more of a dream than were the heavenly streets of gold or fiery hellish brimstone envisioned by the orthodox. For Leibniz, and for myself, the infinite nature of God demands this point of view because it is untenable that a perfect God could err in constructing the creation. Leibniz saw the world as unending progress toward better things.
However, Leibniz’s idea of a universal language and world church certainly would diminish creativity and lend itself to promoting a generic race of humans. We need diversity and change, as both are essential to the evolution of life. Language and religion are both susceptible to change, everything is. The world is fluid and attempts to make it static suffer rust and anachronistic decay. Life and intellectual achievement are founded in newness and fresh emergence. We advance through the fragments of ourselves that we leave behind for posterity in memories, writings, and achievements, all of which are criticized, improved upon, and adapted for an ever-progressing modernity.
Everything is ensconced within this process of change, which we tend to ignore because we subconsciously fear death. But diversity is not something that we should fear, rather it is a manifestation of the richness and fecundity of the creation. We cling to elements of tradition and familiarity like a bug on the window of a moving car that is eventually cast fiercely away by the accelerating vehicle when it could have easily let go sooner. Our religious and intellectual processes must come to anticipate change and evolution instead of clinging desperately to archaic doctrines that have long since proven themselves untenable.
Procrastination
Clearly, the failure to complete one task, the Guelf history, for which he was handsomely paid, ended up greatly hindering Leibniz’s career; for had he finished it in grandiose fashion, he would have naturally been elevated into very superior positions. Further, his repeated and protracted difficulty in completing his journeys and returning home in a timely manner also exacerbated his difficulties.
We have to be ready to leave when the time comes. Instead, Leibniz allowed himself to be plagued by procrastination, like an obese person that refuses exercise until the consequences ultimately cause their demise. Although Leibniz’s brain was capable of soaring ascendance, it seemed to lack the ability for sustained focus, which caused incompletion in most of his undertakings.
The reader is stimulated to ask themselves what unfinished tasks restrain their own life accomplishments: a failure to write their own novel, organize their estate, reconcile a troubled relationship, or get about the business of exploring the Godhead. Whatever it might be, get around to doing it, because the time for our exit from this dimension often arrives unexpectedly, like a thief in the night; or our faculties become compromised, preventing us from finishing important tasks, as happened to Leibniz. Procrastination is a sacrifice of a portion of the time that you have to live in this dimension, and it is therefore a sacrifice of a portion of your life. Because we have only a finite amount of time in this life, all endeavors are essentially a sacrifice for something or other, whether it be to pursue wealth, chase women, daydream, or wander about aimlessly.
Gather the consciousness necessary to recognize the precious value in the time you are sacrificing and the cognizance to evaluate the worthiness of the endeavor for which you are spending your time. Leibniz seemed to embrace Augustine’s idea that God was in the process of creating a society of intelligent spirits to populate a City of God with whom He might dwell, and that this life was a period of qualification for the spirt to exhibit compatibility within such a society. Allow yourself to be admitted into good society.
-End-
March 16, 2020
Excellent biography, particularly strong on theology and metaphysics. If you are especially interested in Leibniz's scientific enterprises, A. J. Aiton's biography is a good choice.
July 5, 2021
A very thorough biography in chronological order following Leibniz from birth to death, including his thought process and means of operating.
Seems his main accomplishments in life were founding several science academies. Being the primary inventor of calculus, and doing his best to make peace between different forms of Christianity.
Otherwise his life follows the usual plotline of a starseed who has come to Earth to help the world be a better place. Unfortunately he was unaccustomed to the very short lifespans here on Earth so did not manage to accomplish much in his brief sojurn here. The lifetimes on Earth being ten times shorter than on other planets at similar of third density.
I really see a very close friend in Leibniz we would have agreed on just about everything. Since we are both children of the stars saying things which most people of the galaxy know, yet the Earthlings seem to have a hard time with.
Specifically he seemed to die to lack of understanding the need to forgive oneself to achieve longevity. He clearly had some resentment towards himself regarding the history he had to write. As he was not able to compromise with himself enough to simply complete it in a way that condensed it so it would be done within a short period of time. Instead he punished himself by working to the point that it sucked all the joy out of his life. And then he died.
Sad 😢.
But yeah otherwise before that last few years he was a happy go lucky jovial fellow. Am sure he continues to be wherever he is now.
Seems his main accomplishments in life were founding several science academies. Being the primary inventor of calculus, and doing his best to make peace between different forms of Christianity.
Otherwise his life follows the usual plotline of a starseed who has come to Earth to help the world be a better place. Unfortunately he was unaccustomed to the very short lifespans here on Earth so did not manage to accomplish much in his brief sojurn here. The lifetimes on Earth being ten times shorter than on other planets at similar of third density.
I really see a very close friend in Leibniz we would have agreed on just about everything. Since we are both children of the stars saying things which most people of the galaxy know, yet the Earthlings seem to have a hard time with.
Specifically he seemed to die to lack of understanding the need to forgive oneself to achieve longevity. He clearly had some resentment towards himself regarding the history he had to write. As he was not able to compromise with himself enough to simply complete it in a way that condensed it so it would be done within a short period of time. Instead he punished himself by working to the point that it sucked all the joy out of his life. And then he died.
Sad 😢.
But yeah otherwise before that last few years he was a happy go lucky jovial fellow. Am sure he continues to be wherever he is now.
January 2, 2014
Here's a thick book wrestling down many of the details of the life of a mind so wide-ranging as to beggar belief. Antognazza finds a strand of Leibniz's thought on which to string his dazzling array of conceptual adventures: namely, his devotion to creating a grand synthesis of not merely all human knowledge, but also all of the religious and political differences of his day. His project was to take the infinite diversity in his world and unify it under the simplest formulae, for utility and for the glory of God. Unfortunately, not one noble in his day was interested in funding this philosophico-theologico-politico utopia, and instead Leibniz was tasked with tracing noble lineages and running a small library. What's really amazing is the discrepancy between his genius and breadth of knowledge, and the comparative insignificance of his impact on history. In other words, here was a guy who could go toe to toe with Newton, and who had plans for a pan-european civilization; but you might not ever have heard of him.
It's a grand task Antognazza took on, and I admire her brave effort, but the result is a stuffy book (unlike Mossner's biography of Hume). I made it to the end because I'm nutty on the subject, but never would I recommend it to anyone who wasn't.
It's a grand task Antognazza took on, and I admire her brave effort, but the result is a stuffy book (unlike Mossner's biography of Hume). I made it to the end because I'm nutty on the subject, but never would I recommend it to anyone who wasn't.
February 7, 2025
A comprehensive account of Leibniz’s life and thought, with particular focus on his philosophical and literary interests.
Leibniz is a difficult figure to write about because a significant amount of the primary sources have never been critically edited or published. Leibniz himself was a copious letter writer and he was forever beginning books, and either not finishing or not publishing them. His interests span an enormous range of academic and practical matters, from sophisticated treatises on mathematical algebra to undertaking tasks to try and improve the pumps in a local mine shaft.
There is so much to say about Leibniz’s many interests, that even though this is a long book, it still ends up briefly summarizing many interesting aspects of Leibniz’s ideas. Philosophical and literary ideas are narrated in more detail, whereas Leibniz’s mathematics seemed to be of less interest to the author. For example, the famous dispute between Newton and Leibniz over calculus is narrated, but there is no detailed analysis of how their methodologies differed.
One of the interesting aspects of Leibniz’s character which emerges from the book is his ‘ecumenism,’ and his desire to work for Christian unity. He was a Lutheran and refused to change his religion. But he also said that he would have happily remained a Catholic if he had been born one. Unusually for the era, his vision for Christian unity was one of treasuring differences, rather than trying to merge religions or have one ‘take over’ another.
As part of his ecumenical vision, Leibniz analysed the differences between Christian denominations and correctly noted that differences about doctrines were symptoms of a deeper disagreement about how to determine the truth on matters relating to doctrines. We hear how Leibniz noted different approaches within each denomination (Scripture, Reason, Tradition, Authority) and that he thought that the best overall approach was all the approaches used together. But that is an odd conclusion. When those differences of approach had generated the problem to start with, how could maintaining those different methodologies ever lead to a solution?
Towards the end of his life, Leibniz knew a lot of disappointments as friends died and as his own hopes were frustrated. He was also (not unfairly) rebuked for not finishing the family history which he had been commissioned to write, several decades earlier.
We also see some tensions emerging in his final years, in some of the deeper aspects of his philosophical vision. In his ‘Principles’ he noted that there were two very different kinds of substances, Monads and Compound Substances. Yet in his Monadology he seems to only recognize that Monads are substances. Its unclear how those rival visions could be reconciled, and it seems that Leibniz himself was aware of the difficulties.
Overall, this is a detailed history of Leibniz and his ideas. It is not a particularly penetrating analysis of his ideas, because the focus is upon narrating the bigger picture. The amount of detail makes it a potentially complex and difficult read, which will be appreciated most by graduate readers who have a historical or philosophical interest in Leibniz himself.
Leibniz is a difficult figure to write about because a significant amount of the primary sources have never been critically edited or published. Leibniz himself was a copious letter writer and he was forever beginning books, and either not finishing or not publishing them. His interests span an enormous range of academic and practical matters, from sophisticated treatises on mathematical algebra to undertaking tasks to try and improve the pumps in a local mine shaft.
There is so much to say about Leibniz’s many interests, that even though this is a long book, it still ends up briefly summarizing many interesting aspects of Leibniz’s ideas. Philosophical and literary ideas are narrated in more detail, whereas Leibniz’s mathematics seemed to be of less interest to the author. For example, the famous dispute between Newton and Leibniz over calculus is narrated, but there is no detailed analysis of how their methodologies differed.
One of the interesting aspects of Leibniz’s character which emerges from the book is his ‘ecumenism,’ and his desire to work for Christian unity. He was a Lutheran and refused to change his religion. But he also said that he would have happily remained a Catholic if he had been born one. Unusually for the era, his vision for Christian unity was one of treasuring differences, rather than trying to merge religions or have one ‘take over’ another.
As part of his ecumenical vision, Leibniz analysed the differences between Christian denominations and correctly noted that differences about doctrines were symptoms of a deeper disagreement about how to determine the truth on matters relating to doctrines. We hear how Leibniz noted different approaches within each denomination (Scripture, Reason, Tradition, Authority) and that he thought that the best overall approach was all the approaches used together. But that is an odd conclusion. When those differences of approach had generated the problem to start with, how could maintaining those different methodologies ever lead to a solution?
Towards the end of his life, Leibniz knew a lot of disappointments as friends died and as his own hopes were frustrated. He was also (not unfairly) rebuked for not finishing the family history which he had been commissioned to write, several decades earlier.
We also see some tensions emerging in his final years, in some of the deeper aspects of his philosophical vision. In his ‘Principles’ he noted that there were two very different kinds of substances, Monads and Compound Substances. Yet in his Monadology he seems to only recognize that Monads are substances. Its unclear how those rival visions could be reconciled, and it seems that Leibniz himself was aware of the difficulties.
Overall, this is a detailed history of Leibniz and his ideas. It is not a particularly penetrating analysis of his ideas, because the focus is upon narrating the bigger picture. The amount of detail makes it a potentially complex and difficult read, which will be appreciated most by graduate readers who have a historical or philosophical interest in Leibniz himself.
February 23, 2018
I also read her "Very Short Introduction" to Leibniz (Oxford U. Press) before I finished this work, and, to be honest, I would recommend everyone read her little book first. Unless you've been reading a lot of Leibniz lately, you'll find her style and the content too dense, almost as if Antognazza wanted to stuff in as much as possible into this book. That said, and with a little introduction, it's by far the best in its class and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I doubt I'm her typical reader. I assume she wasn't writing for her ghetto of Leibniz experts at the universities. I've had a graduate education, have read several of Leibniz works, can read Latin, German and French (Leibniz was fluent and wrote in all three, but could read English too), but I'm not a university professor and have not spent my life studying the seventeenth century (Leibniz died in 1716). But Leibniz is worth knowing. He was, in my opinion, probably the greatest mind the race has produced. Not even Aristotle or Leonardo da Vinci, or in the present era, Charles Peirce, can touch his universal knowledge and intellectual creativity. He was a philosopher interested in practicing his thought in the real world, so busy trying to unite the world that he only published one book, Essays on Theodicy. The projected complete works (still in progress) will be over 120 volumes, covering a variety of sciences, mathematics, physics, philosophy, theology, politics, diplomacy, etc. etc. The model of what a genius is and perhaps as close to how a philosopher should contribute to the world as the human race has produced. No, he wasn't perfect, wasn't always right, and made mistakes, but his vision and his journey are examples to all.
Read
February 26, 2024Leibniz was a fascinating figure. His genius consisted in an irrepressible overabundance of ideas, so much so that he would be paralyzed in bed in the morning, overwhelmed with all his ideas. The quality of his ideas is attested in his achievements in improving the calculator, developing calculus, and his contributions to rationalist philosophy. He was someone who was simply born to be an intellectual and inventor. His preoccupation with the silver mines and his unfortunate obsession with writing the Guelph family history show his tendency to become intellectually fixated on certain thing. He never appears to have had any romantic or sexual relationships, consumed with the activity of his intellect. Despite the abstract nature of some of his thought, Antognazza emphasizes his orientation toward practical benefits and the common good, such as with his work with medical societies. Antognazza's achievement is to gather in one volume the whole breadth of Leibniz's involvements in mathematics, engineering, history, philosophy, theology, law, and diplomacy. Leibniz thought everything, and did many things too.
November 8, 2017
This is the finest biography on Leibniz to date. Professor Antognazza shows mastery of the historical and philosophical literature on the "Last Universal Genius." You will notice how much I'm falling over myself to recommend this masterwork. Leibniz is worth everybody's time and this biography is the best place to begin.
November 10, 2018
Nearly two months struggling with pretentious style.
Some parts are interesting: historical, political, relating to custom. Some are aggravating (especially constant proving that Leibniz was religious person).
I expected something better about such an interesting character.
Some parts are interesting: historical, political, relating to custom. Some are aggravating (especially constant proving that Leibniz was religious person).
I expected something better about such an interesting character.
March 18, 2021
Unbelievable how a biography of Leibniz can be a page-turner. Thorough, insightful, and pleasant to read!
July 6, 2023
Reviewed in Swedish: http://dagensbok.com/2023/07/06/nytol...
October 26, 2020
Too boring to finish.
Looking for a more concise and witty book about him preferably in German ...
Looking for a more concise and witty book about him preferably in German ...
April 2, 2015
I wanted a book that took me to a different time and place. I chose Leibniz because of my interest in math. (Biographies of Gauss and Euler are on my wish list.) I had read biographies of Newton and Kepler. Well, this book served that mission. What surprised me was how little of Leibniz' work had to do with math. His work covered a large variety of topics, but most of his time was devoted to philosophy and metaphysics, working on the seventeenth century analog of artificial intelligence. Of course, religion was a big part of philosophy, and one of the major ends that Leibniz was trying to achieve was the reconciliation of Calvinists, Lutherans, and Roman Catholics. Leibniz developed calculus just as a sort of change of pace.
This book is thorough and therefore may seem a little long unless one is deeply interested in philosophy. Also a knowledge of Latin and/or of French would be helpful.
This book is thorough and therefore may seem a little long unless one is deeply interested in philosophy. Also a knowledge of Latin and/or of French would be helpful.
October 25, 2018
Exceptionally dense and interesting review of this great mind, especially in the way she sees a theme and thread that runs throughout his life from the time he was young. The notes are themselves worth reading for the vast research that this book required. In fact, I doubt there was ever a human who had a more varied life, lacking only marriage and children. How could someone bring all of these travels, events, and especially mental explorations into some narrative? But Antognazza succeeds. She brilliantly and elegantly describes it all, not flinching to conquer the many fields in which Leibniz had what we might call expertise in our day.
Yet let it be said. The man is worth far more than one volume. For now, this work has to be the best biography yet written on Leibniz. Thank you.
Yet let it be said. The man is worth far more than one volume. For now, this work has to be the best biography yet written on Leibniz. Thank you.
August 13, 2012
This one had to go back to the library- verdammte interlibrary loan prohibition on renewals.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews