Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz/Bibliography

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Books about Leibniz: Life and Works

• Adams RM. (1994, 1998[reprint]) Leibniz: Determinist, Theist, Idealist. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195126495. | Google Books preview.
  • Google Books annotation "Legendary since his own time as a universal genius, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) contributed significantly to almost every branch of learning, from mathematics to ecumenical theology. But the part of his work that is most studied today [1994] is probably his writings in metaphysics, which have been the focus of particularly lively philosophical discussion in the last twenty years or so. Leibniz's writings in metaphysics contain one of the great classic systems of modern philosophy, but the system must be pieced together from a vast and miscellaneous array of manuscripts, letters, articles, and books, in a way that makes especially strenuous demands on scholarship. This book presents an in-depth interpretation of three important parts of Leibniz's metaphysics, thoroughly grounded in the texts as well as in philosophical analysis and critique. The three areas discussed are the metaphysical part of Leibniz's philosophy of logic, his essentially theological treatment ofthe central issues of ontology, and his theory of substance (the theory of monads)."

• Dascal M. (ed.) (2008) Leibniz: What Kind of Rationalist? New York: Springer. ISBN 9781402086670. | Google Books preview.
  • From Google Book annotation: "The [n=32] chapters of the book are the result of intense discussion in the course of an international conference focused on the title question of this book, and were selected in view of their contribution to this topic. They are clustered in thematically organized parts. No effort has been made to hide the controversies underlying the different interpretations of Leibniz's "rationalism" - in each particular domain and as a whole. On the contrary, the editor firmly believes that only through a variety of conflicting interpretive perspectives can the multi-faceted nature of an oeuvre of such a magnitude and variety as Leibniz's be brought to light and understood...

• Antognazza MR. (2009) Leibniz: An Intellectual biography. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521806190.
  • From British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 19:561-563. "We expect of any biography that it will be full of accurate and illuminating detail about its subject duly presented in a proper sequence. Even those who think they know the Leibniz story will find Antognazza's book full of additional information and insight. She is not content just to narrate the familiar tales and her own painstaking research adds value at every point. For this reason, hers is a book that all serious students of Leibniz should have in their possession. As a work of reference it will rarely be disappointing or unreliable."