Leibniz on Compossibility and Possible Worlds
Publisher: Springer
Published: Dec 27, 2016
Language: eng
Format: hardcover
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9783319426938
Description: This volume brings together a number of original articles by leading Leibniz scholars to address the meaning and significance of Leibniz's notions of compossibility and possible worlds. Leibniz argued that not all possible substances are compossible, that is, capable of coexisting. In Leibniz's view, the compossibility relation divides all possible substances into disjoint sets, each of which constitutes a possible world, or a way that God might have created things. For Leibniz, then, it is the compossibility relation that individuates possible worlds; and possible worlds form the objects of God's choice, from among which he chooses the best for creation. Thus the notions of compossibility and possible worlds are of major significance for Leibniz's metaphysics, his theodicy, and, ultimately, for his ethics. The goal of this book is to gather a body of new papers that explore ways of either refining previous interpretations in light of the objections that have been raised against them, or ways of framing new interpretations that will contribute to a fresh understanding of these key notions in Leibniz's thought.
Notes: Source title: Leibniz on Compossibility and Possible Worlds (The New Synthese Historical Library)