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Confessio Philosophi: Papers Concerning the Problem of Evil, 1671-78
This volume contains papers that represent Leibniz’s early thoughts on the problem of evil, centering on a dialogue, the Confessio philosophi, in which he formulates a general account of God’s relation to sin and evil that becomes a fixture in his thinking. How can God be understood to be the ultimate cause, asks Leibniz, without God being considered as the author of sin, a conclusion incompatible with God’s holiness? Leibniz’s attempts to justify the way of God to humans lead him to deep discussion of related the nature of free choice, the problems of necessitarianism and fatalism, the nature of divine justice and holiness. All but one of the writings presented here are available in English for the first time.
- GenresPhilosophy
220 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1678
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56 people want to read
About the author
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
1,349 books549 followersGerman philosopher and mathematician Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz or Leibnitz invented differential and integral calculus independently of Isaac Newton and proposed an optimist metaphysical theory that included the notion that we live in "the best of all possible worlds."
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, a polymath, occupies a prominent place in the history. Most scholars think that Leibniz developed and published ever widely used notation. Only in the 20th century, his law of continuity and transcendental homogeneity found implementation in means of nonstandard analysis. He of the most prolific in the field of mechanical calculators. He worked on adding automatic multiplication and division to calculator of Blaise Pascal, meanwhile first described a pinwheel in 1685, and used it in the first mass-produced mechanical arithmometer. He also refined the binary number system, the foundation of virtually all digital computers.
Leibniz most concluded that God ably created our universe in a restricted sense, Voltaire often lampooned the idea. Leibniz alongside the great René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza advocated 17th-century rationalism. Applying reason of first principles or prior definitions, rather than empirical evidence, produced conclusions in the scholastic tradition, and the work of Leibniz anticipated modern analytic logic.
Leibniz made major contributions to technology, and anticipated that which surfaced much later in probability, biology, medicine, geology, psychology, linguistics, and computer science. He wrote works on politics, law, ethics, theology, history, and philology. Various learned journals, tens of thousands of letters, and unpublished manuscripts scattered contributions of Leibniz to this vast array of subjects. He wrote in several languages but primarily Latin and French. No one completely gathered the writings of Leibniz.
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, a polymath, occupies a prominent place in the history. Most scholars think that Leibniz developed and published ever widely used notation. Only in the 20th century, his law of continuity and transcendental homogeneity found implementation in means of nonstandard analysis. He of the most prolific in the field of mechanical calculators. He worked on adding automatic multiplication and division to calculator of Blaise Pascal, meanwhile first described a pinwheel in 1685, and used it in the first mass-produced mechanical arithmometer. He also refined the binary number system, the foundation of virtually all digital computers.
Leibniz most concluded that God ably created our universe in a restricted sense, Voltaire often lampooned the idea. Leibniz alongside the great René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza advocated 17th-century rationalism. Applying reason of first principles or prior definitions, rather than empirical evidence, produced conclusions in the scholastic tradition, and the work of Leibniz anticipated modern analytic logic.
Leibniz made major contributions to technology, and anticipated that which surfaced much later in probability, biology, medicine, geology, psychology, linguistics, and computer science. He wrote works on politics, law, ethics, theology, history, and philology. Various learned journals, tens of thousands of letters, and unpublished manuscripts scattered contributions of Leibniz to this vast array of subjects. He wrote in several languages but primarily Latin and French. No one completely gathered the writings of Leibniz.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 3, 2022
'Confessio Philosophi', or 'Confirmation of a Philosopher' is a philosophical dialogue between a theologian and a philosopher concerning God, evil and freedom. The text was written by the Hanoverian polymath G.W.Leibniz in 1672 when he was merely 26 years old. It is sometimes, rightfully so, referred to as Leibniz's proto theodicy, as it concerns the same subjects as his theodicy written in 1710 and it retains in large part the same arguments. As the title suggests, the philosopher fulfils the role of a catechumen and the theologian likewise of a catechist. This means that the philosopher is a 'problem solver' which uses his reason to solve and expose, problems and remarks made by the theologian. It leads to a lively dynamic which keeps the reader engaged.
As an engineering student who has come across Leibniz multiple times in mathematics courses, his rationalism really struck me. This actually surprised me as Leibniz had only completed studies in philosophy and law in 1672. It was in Paris, in 1672-1673, that his focus shifted to maths and physics. But at the same time this isn't surprising as he's a reaction to Baruch Spinoza and René Descartes who were rationalists as well and formulated their metaphysics in a mathematical way (axioms, definitions, theorems, proofs, etc.). Notably, among Spinoza and Descartes, he's also a reaction to Thomas Hobbes and Luis de Molina. For example, he critiques their conception of free will and God.
Leibniz has a deterministic worldview, which often got accused of deism. This determinism leads him to discuss topics like the order of the world, necessity of sins, free will and damnation. He uses a lot of concepts from Neoplatonism, Stoicism and Scholasticism. You could even argue that his philosophy in this work is based on these schools of philosophy. The work can be considered as a contribution to ecumenism, which is not unreasonable as Leibniz functioned a jurist who was responsible for preparing conversations between Catholics and Protestants. In general, there are a lot of possible interpretations of this text.
I definitely recommend this work if you're fond of other rationalists (like Spinoza, Descartes) or have a big interest in questions concerning God, evil and freedom. It is noteworthy to mention that the translation from Latin can be difficult to plough through as Leibniz used typical renaissance Latin which consists of long and complicated structures.
The edition I used to read the text and to write this review is a Dutch translation and discussion of 'Confessio Philosophi': https://www.damon.nl/book/leibniz-bel....
As an engineering student who has come across Leibniz multiple times in mathematics courses, his rationalism really struck me. This actually surprised me as Leibniz had only completed studies in philosophy and law in 1672. It was in Paris, in 1672-1673, that his focus shifted to maths and physics. But at the same time this isn't surprising as he's a reaction to Baruch Spinoza and René Descartes who were rationalists as well and formulated their metaphysics in a mathematical way (axioms, definitions, theorems, proofs, etc.). Notably, among Spinoza and Descartes, he's also a reaction to Thomas Hobbes and Luis de Molina. For example, he critiques their conception of free will and God.
Leibniz has a deterministic worldview, which often got accused of deism. This determinism leads him to discuss topics like the order of the world, necessity of sins, free will and damnation. He uses a lot of concepts from Neoplatonism, Stoicism and Scholasticism. You could even argue that his philosophy in this work is based on these schools of philosophy. The work can be considered as a contribution to ecumenism, which is not unreasonable as Leibniz functioned a jurist who was responsible for preparing conversations between Catholics and Protestants. In general, there are a lot of possible interpretations of this text.
I definitely recommend this work if you're fond of other rationalists (like Spinoza, Descartes) or have a big interest in questions concerning God, evil and freedom. It is noteworthy to mention that the translation from Latin can be difficult to plough through as Leibniz used typical renaissance Latin which consists of long and complicated structures.
The edition I used to read the text and to write this review is a Dutch translation and discussion of 'Confessio Philosophi': https://www.damon.nl/book/leibniz-bel....
July 31, 2020
Sobre algunos autores (y sus obras) no parece adecuado decir si se está de acuerdo o no con los mismos, ya sea parcial o completamente ―en una reseña breve, claro está; pues defender por qué se alaban o se desprecian ciertas ideas requiere de un escrito de mayor profundidad y extensión―.
Ante casos como éste, donde Leibniz no es el primero ni el último, me limitaré a hacer un recuento de los puntos más importantes que se encuentran en la obra que haya leído en ese momento. En el caso específico de esta obra...
El resto del escrito se encuentra en mi blog: https://jsaaopinionpersonal.wordpress...
Ante casos como éste, donde Leibniz no es el primero ni el último, me limitaré a hacer un recuento de los puntos más importantes que se encuentran en la obra que haya leído en ese momento. En el caso específico de esta obra...
El resto del escrito se encuentra en mi blog: https://jsaaopinionpersonal.wordpress...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews