Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm

Abstract

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) was a German philosopher, mathematician, physicist, scientist, politician, diplomat, historian and librarian. He is known as the last universal genius and as one of the most famous philosophers of his time. Leibniz invented a mechanical calculator, developed the infinitesimal calculus, anticipated modern computational science and paved the way for the discovery of the principle of the conservation of energy in physics. He was one of the first to solve mechanical problems by self‐regulating systems, anticipated modern geology in claiming that the earth has a molten core and paved the way for the distinction between conscious and subconscious states. Leibniz exchanged more than 15 000 letters with both intellectual and political persons of distinction, among them two German emperors, Tsar Peter the Great and almost all important scientists and philosophers of his time. Key Concepts: Monads are indivisible, mind‐like entities, which the late Leibniz considered as the fundamental building blocks of reality. Divine machines, for Leibniz, are the bodies of living beings. The term refers to the functional organisation of the body of living beings which, contrary to that of artificial machines, Leibniz thought to be infinite. ‘Pre‐established harmony’ is Leibniz's term for the relation between substances, most notably for the relation between mind and body. Optimism is a Leibnizian position according to which this world is the best of all possible worlds. Corporeal substances are living beings with a body. The Stepped Reckoner is a digital mechanical calculator designed to execute all four basic arithmetic operations.