The Practice of Reason
Leibniz and his Controversies
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) dedicated much of his life to some of the most central debates of his time. For him, our chance of progress towards the happiness of mankind lies in the capacity to recognize the value of the different perspectives through which humans approach the world. Controversies supply the opportunity to exercise this capacity by approaching the opponent not as an adversary but as someone from whose point of view we can enrich our own viewpoint and improve our knowledge.
This approach inspired the creation of this series. The book – the first in the series devoted to Leibniz – presents his views through actual controversies in which he participated, in several domains. Leibniz’s original ‘theory of controversies’ thus appears not only as what the thinker thinks about how one should use reason in a controversy, but also how he puts in practice the kind of rationality he preaches.
Table of Contents
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Foreword | pp. vii–x
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Abbreviations | p. xi
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Contributors | pp. xiii–xvi
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1. The principle of continuity and the ‘paradox’ of Leibnizian mathematicsMichel Serfati | pp. 1–32
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2. Geometrization or mathematization: Christiaan Huygens’s critiques of infinitesimal analysis in his correspondence with LeibnizFabien Chareix | pp. 33–49
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3. Leibniz and the vis viva controversyIdan Shimony | pp. 51–73
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4. The controversy between Leibniz and Papin: From the public debate to the correspondenceAnne-Lise Rey | pp. 75–100
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5. Leibniz vs. Stahl: A controversy well beyond medicine and chemistrySarah Carvallo | pp. 101–136
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6. Leibniz’s conciliatory approaches in scientific controversiesMarcelo Dascal and Erez Firt | pp. 137–167
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7. Leibniz vs. Lamy: How does confused perception unite soul and body?Andreas Blank | pp. 169–186
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8. Leibniz vs. Foucher: Is there anything wrong with the Système Nouveau?Marta Mendonça | pp. 187–221
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9. Quantification of natural and positive laws: How to organize privileges?Pol Boucher | pp. 223–243
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10. Leibniz’s critique of Pufendorf: A dispute in the eve of the EnlightenmentDetlef Döring | pp. 245–272
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11. Leibniz vs. Jablonski: An intestine struggle on uniting the Protestant campHartmut Rudolph | pp. 273–295
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12. The golden rule: Aspects of Leibniz’s method for religious controversyMogens Lærke | pp. 297–319
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13. Leibniz vs. Bossuet: Which reasons for Irenicism?Christiane Frémont | pp. 321–344
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Name index | pp. 345–347
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Subject index | pp. 349–359
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