Leibniz's 'New System' and Associated Contemporary Texts

by Woolhouse, R. S.; Francks, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780198248460
• ISBN10: 0198248466
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-04-24
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This volume gathers together for the first time are all the key texts in a crucial debate in modern philosophy, centered on Leibniz's famous 1695 essay, the "New System of the Nature of Substances and their Communication," in which he introduced his strikingly original theory of metaphysics. His "system" became increasingly famous and drew him into discussion and development of these ideas, both in public and in private, with a variety of thinkers, most notably the great French philosopher Pierre Bayle. Woolhouse's and Francks's new English edition gives the only full representation of this debate, and will therefore be essential reading for anyone who wishes to gain a proper understanding of Leibniz's philosophy and its intellectual context. All the texts are newly translated and extensively annotated; many appear in English for the first time.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction	1	(6)
2 Leibniz: The `New System of the Nature of Substances'	7	(30)
3 Leibniz and Simon Foucher	37	(24)
4 Leibniz and Henri Basnage de Beauval	61	(7)
5 Leibniz and Pierre Bayle	68	(65)
6 Leibniz and Francois Lamy	133	(38)
7 Leibniz and Isaac Jaquelot	171	(31)
8 Leibniz and Damaris Masham	202	(24)
9 Leibniz and Pierre Desmaizeaux	226	(20)
10 Leibniz and Rene Joseph de Tournemine	246	(7)
Index	253