Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm

Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646-1716), also known as Leibnitz, Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von, German philosopher, mathematician, and statesman, regarded as one of the supreme intellects of the 17th century. Born in Leipzig, Leibniz was educated at the universities of Leipzig, Jena, and Altdorf. From 1666 (the year in which he was awarded a doctorate in law) onwards, he served Johann Philipp von Schönborn, archbishop elector of Mainz, in a variety of legal, political, and diplomatic capacities. In 1673, when the elector's reign ended, Leibniz went to Paris. He remained there for three years and also visited Amsterdam and London, devoting his time to the study of mathematics, science, and philosophy. In 1676 he was appointed librarian and privy counsellor at the court of Hanover. For the 40 years until his death, he served Ernest Augustus, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, later elector of Hanover, and George Louis, elector of Hanover, later George I, king of Great Britain.

Leibniz was considered a universal genius by his contemporaries. His work encompasses not only mathematics and philosophy but also theology, law, diplomacy, politics, history, philology, and physics.

Leibniz's contribution in mathematics was to discover, in 1675, the fundamental principles of infinitesimal calculus. This discovery was arrived at independent of the discoveries of the English scientist Sir Isaac Newton, whose system of calculus was invented in 1666. Leibniz's system was published in 1684, Newton's in 1687, and the method of notation devised by Leibniz was universally adopted (see Mathematical Symbols). In 1672 he also invented a calculating machine capable of multiplying, dividing, and extracting square roots, and he is considered a pioneer in the development of mathematical logic.

In the philosophy expounded by Leibniz, the universe is composed of countless conscious centres of spiritual force or energy, known as monads. Each monad represents an individual microcosm, mirroring the universe in varying degrees of perfection and developing independently of all other monads. The universe that these monads constitute is the harmonious result of a divine plan. Humans, however, with their limited vision, cannot accept such evils as disease and death as part of a universal harmony. This Leibnizian universe, “the best of all possible worlds”, is satirized as a utopia by the French author Voltaire in his novel Candide (1759).

Important philosophical works by Leibniz include Essays in Theodicy on the Goodness of God, the Liberty of Man, and the Origin of Evil (2 vols., 1710; trans. in Philosophical Works, 1890), Monadology (1714; published in Latin as Principia Philosophiae, 1721; trans. 1890), and New Essays Concerning Human Understanding (1703; pub. 1765; trans. 1916). The latter two greatly influenced German philosophers of the 18th century, including Christian Wolff and Immanuel Kant.