Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Written by Greta Ladini
Biography
Leibniz was born on July 1, 1646 during the decline of the Thirty Years War. His father Friedrich was a professor of moral philosophy at the University in Leipzig, while his mother was the daughter of a law professor. His dad died really young, when Gottfried was only six years old, so he mainly learned religious ideas from his mother. Leibniz used also mainly the library that his father had left him, and started reading all the books in Latin.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was considered a “universal genius”, by being one of the most important thinkers through the 17th and 18 century. He believed that everything that happened needed to have a reasoning and explanation behind it, which wasn't always possible since they didn't have enough information to do so. As well as being one of the founders of calculus, he also created the first calculator. He grew up in an educated and orthodox Lutheran enviroment. From 1661-1663 Leibniz practiced studies in the university in Jena, even though at that time the curriculum of the universities were still largely scholastic with a trace of encyclopedic tradition, and his main teachers were all Aristotelians, with eclectic interests, and he as well,had his own eclectic ideas, since he had familiarity on the field; modern mechanical philosophy. He is also remembered for also being a rationalist, since he combined mathematical methods into philosophy Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz died November 14, 1716. |