Leibniz
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| Leibniz |
In the following discussion of the character of Leibniz and the spirit of his philosophy, I have endeavoured to confine myself as much as possible to those points in the life and the doctrine which cannot be easily gathered by a perusal of Guhrauer s biography (Berlin, 1846), of the principal works of the philosopher himself, or of the well- known historical treatises of Ueberweg, Kuno Fischer, Erdmann, and Zeller.
These I have supposed to be of easy access, and I express the hope that those of my readers who have not read them may be better prepared by this volume to do so, and that those who have read them may find something in it, which the larger works did not readily supply. None of the many editions of the works of Leibniz is complete, and none can as yet be dispensed with.
The following are the principal editions: I. Gothofredi Guillelmi Leibnitii opera omnia, nunc primum collecta studio Ludovici Dutens : Geneva, 1768. This edition contains a great deal of matter, referring especially to law, natural science, ethnography, & and many letters which have not yet passed into the more recent but unfinished editions. IL God. Guil. Leibnitii opera philosophica quae vi Preface. extant Latina, gallica, germanica Omnia, ed. Job. Ed. Erdmann: Berlin, 1840.
This is the handiest edition; but as the correspondence is not complete, it is by no means sufficient for the historian, though it suffices for the purely philosophical student. Ill In the year 1843, G. H. Pertz began an edition of the works of Leibniz, under the title, Leibnizen s gesam- melte Werke, aus den handschriften der Koniglichen Bibliothek zu Hannover herausgegeben, and edited him self the (then unpublished) Annales imperii occidentis Brunsvicenses, in three volumes ; and in a fourth vol ume, Geschichtliche Aufsatze und Gedichte (1847).
Unfortunately, this edition did not aim at completeness; and in the preface, to the fourth volume several historical writings of Leibniz are mentioned, notably his essays in the Scriptores rerum Brunsvicensium, as not having been included. The second series of this edition, which should have contained the philosophical works, does not extend beyond one volume, which gives the correspondence of Leibniz with Antoine Arnaud. It was edited by Grotefend (Hanover, 1846).
This volume can be dispensed with, as it is incorporated in the edition of Gerhardt mentioned below. IV. The only complete edition so far as I know is that of Leibniz s mathematical works by Gerhardt, an indefatigable student and editor : Leibnizens mathematische Schriften, herausgegeben von C. J. Gerhardt, 7 vols. : London and Berlin, 1850; Halle, 1855-63. It appeared as the third series in the edition of Pertz.
Contents:
Paet I.
Leibniz s life and the genesis of his philosophy.
Leipzig and the education of the schools, 1
Mainz and the education of the world, 2
Paris and the invention of the differential calculus, .
Hanover. The philosopher and academician, 63
Controversies, 83
Unsuccessful attempts and new beginnings.- the character of leibniz, . . L05
Paet ii.
The philosophy of Leibniz.
the pbinciples of leibniz s philosophy, . . 135
The system of leibniz s philosophy, . 156
The spirit and character of leibniz s philolosophy 172
The fate of leibniz s philosophy, . 191
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