Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Leibniz c. 1695
Born1 July 1646
Leipzig, Electorate of Saxony
Died14 November 1716 (aged 70)
Hanover, Electorate of Hanover
FatherFriedrich Leibniz
Education
Education• Alte Nikolaischule, Leipzig
• Leipzig University (BA , 1662; MA , 1664; LLB , 1665; Dr. phil. hab. , 1666)
• University of Jena (1663; no degree) 1
• University of Altdorf (Dr. jur. , 1666)
ThesesOn the Combinatorial Art (March 1666)
Inaugural Disputation on Ambiguous Legal Cases (November 1666)
Doctoral advisorB. L. von Schwendendörffer (Dr. jur. advisor)23
Other advisors• Erhard Weigel (Jena) 1
• Jakob Thomasius (B.A. advisor) 4
• J. A. Schertzer 5
• Christiaan Huygens
Philosophical work
Era17th-/18th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
School• Rationalism
• Pluralistic idealism 6
• Foundationalism 7
• Conceptualism 8
• Optimism
• Indirect realism 9
• Correspondence theory of truth 10
• Relationalism
Notable students• Jacob Bernoulli (epistolary correspondent)
• Christian Wolff (epistolary correspondent)
Main interests• Mathematics
• physics
• geology
• medicine
• biology
• embryology
• epidemiology
• veterinary medicine
• paleontology
• psychology
• engineering
• librarianship
• linguistics
• philology
• sociology
• metaphysics
• ethics
• economics
• diplomacy
• history
• politics
• music theory
• poetry
• logic
• theodicy
• universal language
• universal science
Notable ideas• Algebraic logic
• Binary code
• Calculus
• Differential equations
• Mathesis universalis
• Monads
• Best of all possible worlds
• Pre-established harmony
• Identity of indiscernibles
• Mathematical matrix
• Mathematical function
• Newton–Leibniz axiom
• Leibniz’s notation
• Leibniz integral rule
• Integral symbol
• Leibniz harmonic triangle
• Leibniz’s test
• Leibniz formula for π
• Leibniz formula for determinants
• Fractional derivative
• Chain rule
• Quotient rule
• Product rule
• Leibniz wheel
• Leibniz’s gap
• Algebra of concepts
Vis viva (principle of conservation of energy)
• Principle of least action
Salva veritate
• Stepped reckoner
• Symbolic logic
Analysis situs
• Principle of sufficient reason
• Law of continuity
• Transcendental law of homogeneity
Ars combinatoria (alphabet of human thought)
Characteristica universalis
Calculus ratiocinator
• Compossibility
• Partial fraction decomposition
• Protogaea
• Problem of why there is anything at all
• Pluralistic idealism
• Metaphysical dynamism
• Relationalism
• Apperception
A priori / a posteriori distinction
• Deontic logic
Signature

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Footnotes

  1. Arthur (2014), p. 16. 2

  2. Huber (2014), p. 29.

  3. MathGenealogy (2025), Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

  4. Arthur (2014), p. 13.

  5. Mercer (2001), p. 37.

  6. Blamauer (2013), p. 111.

  7. Hasan & Fumerton (2022).

  8. Bella & Schmaltz (2017), p. 207.

  9. Dickerson (2003), p. 85.

  10. David (2015).