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Up to now there have been scarcely any publications on Leibniz dedicated to investigating the interrelations between philosophy and mathematics in his thought. In part this is due to the previously restricted textual basis of editions such as those produced by Gerhardt. Through recent volumes of the scientific letters and mathematical papers series of the Academy Edition scholars have obtained a much richer textual basis on which to conduct their studies - material which allows readers to see interconnections between his philosophical and mathematical ideas which have not previously been manifested. The present book draws extensively from this recently published material. The contributors are among the best in their fields. Their commissioned papers cover thematically salient aspects of the various ways in which philosophy and mathematics informed each other in Leibniz's thought.
List of contents
PART I: MATHEMATICS AND PHILOSOPHY.- Paper 1: The Interrelations between Mathematics and Philosophy in Leibniz´s Thought; Norma B. Goethe, Philip Beeley and David Rabouin.- Paper 2: Leibniz, Philosopher Mathematician and Mathematical Philosopher; Philip Beeley.- Paper 3: The Difficulty of Being Simple: On Some Interactions between Mathematics and Philosophy in Leibniz's Analysis of Notions; David Rabouin.- PART II: MATHEMATICAL REFLECTIONS.- Paper 4: Leibniz's Mathematical and Philosophical Analysis of Time; Emily R. Grosholz.- Paper5: Analyticité, Équipollence et Théorie des Courbes chez Leibniz; Eberhard Knobloch.- Paper 6: Leibniz as Reader and Second Inventor: The Cases of Barrow and Mengoli; Siegmund Probst.- PART III: THE PROBLEM OF INFINITY.- Paper 7: Leibniz´s Actual Infinite in Relation to his Analysis of Matter; Richard Arthur.- Paper 8: Comparability of Infinities and Infinite Multitude in Galileo and Leibniz; Samuel Levey.- Paper 9: Leibniz on the Elimination of Infinitesimals; Douglas Jesseph.
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"The nine essays assembled in this collection were all written by prominent experts in the field, and readers will appreciate the high level of detailed scholarship in each. The bibliographies that accompany the essays are invaluable. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers/faculty." (R. L. Pour, Choice, Vol. 53 (3), November, 2015)
