Leibniz’s Logical Construct of Individuals and Worlds
Leibniz’s Logical Construct of Individuals and Worlds
How could a benevolent God permit evil to exist? Yue Dan reveals how Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz provided a strategic answer to the problem of theodicy through the hypothesis of "infinitely many possible worlds". Through an incisive analysis of Leibniz’s logical and metaphysical framework, she argues that compossibility is not grounded in divine decree or spatiotemporal constraints but is based on the logical consistency of propositions. Windowless monads are coordinated by pre-established harmony, which is grounded in logic and reason to build a rationally structured cosmos where God selects the best of all possible worlds according to sufficient reason.
Drawing on medieval sources such as Avicenna and al-Ghazālī to situate Leibniz’s system in the context of metaphysical history, Yue Dan puts forward a new interpretation of his mathematical metaphors – particularly the courbe préétablie and the osculating circle – to clarify his system of universal harmony. Ultimately, the author vividly describes how Leibniz constructs a possible world system through logic and defends divine goodness without compromising rational intelligibility.
| Series | Studia Leibnitiana – Sonderhefte |
|---|---|
| Volume | 61 |
| ISBN | 978-3-515-14116-1 |
| Media type | Book - Paperback |
| Edition number | 1. |
| Copyright year | 2027 |
| Publisher | Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH |
| Length | 318 pages |
| Illustrations | 11 b/w figs., 3 b/w tables |
| Size | 17.0 x 24.0 cm |
| Language | English |
