Leibniz and Kant

Although it is common to see Kant's philosophy as at its core a reaction to (and partial rejection of) the dogmatism and rationalism of Leibniz, Wolff, and their followers, it is surprising how little detailed and critical study there has been of the relation between Leibniz and Kant. How did Kant understand Leibniz's philosophy? Did he correctly understand Leibniz's philosophy? Since only a portion of Leibniz's philosophical writings were published prior to Kant's critical period, is there a “true Leibniz” that Kant did not know? Are all of Kant's criticisms of Leibniz in particular and Leibnizian rationalism in general justified? Or does Leibniz have an answer to Kant's philosophy? Moreover, how should we understand the reception of Leibniz's philosophy in 18th-century Enlightenment Germany?

Leibniz and Kant seeks to examine the relation between Leibniz and Kant by collecting essays written by some of the leading scholars of the history of modern philosophy, all of whom have in common a deep knowledge of both philosophers. This anthology further aims to create a dialogue between scholars of early modern philosophy and Kantians and to fill a lacuna in historical and philosophical scholarship. The essays contained here address fundamental questions of metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophical theology in Leibniz and Kant and address Kant's understanding and interpretation of his philosophical predecessor.

Brandon C. Look, University Research Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, University of Kentucky

Brandon C. Look was educated at the University of Chicago, where he received his BA, MA and PhD. Since 1995, he has been a Professor at the University of Kentucky. He has received grants and fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is the author of Leibniz and the ''Vinculum Substantiale'', editor of the The Bloomsbury Companion to Leibniz and co-editor and co-translator (with Donald Rutherford) of The Leibniz-Des Bosses Correspondence for the Yale Leibniz series. In addition, he has published numerous essays on the history of early modern philosophy.

1. Kant's Leibniz: A Historical and Philosophical Study, Brandon C. Look
2. How Kant was Never a Wolffian, or, Estimating Forces to Enforce Influxus Physicus, Ursula Goldenbaum
3. Breaking with Rationalism: Kant, Crusius, and the Priority of Existence, Eric Watkins
4. Leibniz and the Ideality of Space, Donald Rutherford
5. Leibniz and the Transcendental Deduction, Alison Laywine
6. Bodies, Matter, Monads and Things in Themselves, Nick Stang
7. Kant and the (alleged) Leibnizian Misconception of the Difference between Sensible and Intellectual Representations, Anja Jauernig
8. Kant's Amphiboly as Critique of Leibniz, Martha Brandt Bolton
9. The Teleologies of Leibniz and Kant: So Close Yet So Far Apart, Paul Guyer
10. Leibniz and Kant on Divine Causation, Des Hogan
11. The Development of Kant's Conception of Divine Freedom, Patrick Kain
12. Leibniz and Kant on Miracles: Rationalism, Religion and the Laws, Andrew Chignell