History Atlas

How The Past Is Known
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Historical Document

Leibniz-Clarke correspondence

Diplomatic Correspondence and Secret Agreements

The Leibniz-Clarke correspondence is a series of letters exchanged in 1715 and 1716 between the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and the English theologian Samuel Clarke, who wrote in defense of the views of Isaac Newton. The exchange began after Leibniz wrote to Caroline of Ansbach warning that Newtonian physics was, in his view, harmful to natural theology, and it developed into a debate over the nature of space, whether it was absolute as Newton and Clarke held or merely relational as Leibniz argued, along with questions about divine freedom and whether God must create the best of all possible worlds. The letters were published in 1717, shortly after the death of Leibniz, and have been reprinted many times since. They remain one of the clearest statements of the mature metaphysics of Leibniz, since he had published comparatively little on the subject elsewhere. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Document Type
Document Type (category)
Correspondence / Note 1
Connections

In Era

Source Wikipedia: Leibniz-Clarke correspondence
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Leibniz-Clarke correspondence
  • Lead section
    The Leibniz-Clarke correspondence was a scientific, theological and philosophical debate conducted in an exchange of letters between the German thinker Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Samuel Clarke, an English supporter of Isaac Newton during the years 1715 and 1716.
  • lead paragraph
    The Leibniz-Clarke correspondence was a scientific, theological and philosophical debate conducted in an exchange of letters between the German thinke
  • In Era: The Early Modern Period, lead paragraph and infobox, date
    The Leibniz-Clarke correspondence was a scientific, theological and philosophical debate conducted in an exchange of letters between the German thinke
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.