Leibniz and the Natural World

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Challenging traditional views, Pauline Phemister presents a nuanced interpretation of Leibniz, portraying him as a thinker who synthesizes idealism and materialism. She reveals Leibniz's ontology of living, corporeal substances as fundamental to reality, while his epistemology embraces both sense-experience and reason. Phemister's analysis reconsiders Leibniz's dynamics, pre-established harmony, and concepts of freedom, emphasizing his belief in the necessity of both activity and passivity in understanding the universe, thus providing a more complex view of his philosophical contributions.