Leibnitz

GOTTFRIED WILHELM, BARON VON, (lib'nits,) a celebrated German philosopher, B. at Leipzig, 1646, and a graduate of Altdorf. He early became a devotee to science, discovered the Differential Calculus in abt.1675; was the chief organizer of the Academy of Berlin, of which he was the first president; entered the service of the Duke of Brunswick, and followed that prince, in 1676, as privy-councillor and librarian,to Hanover, where he D., 1716. leaving behind him, among a multifarious ma of works, several which have since exercised a powerful influence over the realm of philosophical thought. In fact, L. became the founder of anew school of philosophy-one which has sought to establish a bond of affinity between metaphysics and theology. The most important peculiarities of L.'s system may be reduced to four: his doctrine as to the Origin of Ideas, his Theory of Monads, the Pre-established Harmony, and the Theory of Optimism. [s. 536]