Leibniz's New Essays Concerning the Human Understanding: A Critical Exposition

Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation. Some corrections of spelling and punctuation have been made. They are marked like this in the text. The original text appears when hovering the cursor over the marked text. A list of amendments is at the end of the text. GERMAN PHILOSOPHICAL CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS AND STUDENTS. EDITED BY GEORGE S. MORRIS. LEIBNIZ’S NEW ESSAYS CONCERNING THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING. LEIBNIZ’S NEW ESSAYS CONCERNING THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING. A CRITICAL EXPOSITION. By JOHN DEWEY, Ph.D. , ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, AND PROFESSOR (ELECT) OF MENTAL AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CHICAGO: SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY 1902 Copyright, 1888 , By S. C. Griggs and Company . PREFACE. The purpose of the series of which the present volume is one, is not, as will be seen by reference to the statement in the initial of any philosopher, but to give a “critical exposition” of some one masterpiece. In treating the “Nouveaux Essais” of Leibniz, I have found myself obliged, at times, to violate the letter of this expressed intention, in order to fulfil its spirit. The “Nouveaux Essais,” in spite of its being one of the two most extended philosophical writings of Leibniz, is a compendium of comments, rather than a connected argument or exposition. It has all the suggestiveness and richness of a note-book, but with much also of its fragmentariness. I have therefore been obliged to supplement my account of it by constant references to the other writings of Leibniz, and occasionally to take considerable liberty with the order of the treatment of topics. Upon the whole, this book will be found, I hope, to be a faithful reflex not only of Leibniz’s thought, but also of his discussions in the “Nouveaux Essais.” In the main, the course of philosophic thought since the time of Leibniz has been such as to render almost self-evident his limitations, and to suggest needed corrections and amplifications. Indeed, it is much easier for those whose thoughts follow the turn that Kant has given modern thinking to appreciate the defects of Leibniz than to realize his greatness. I have endeavored, therefore, in the body of the work, to identify my thought with that of Leibniz as much as possible, to assume his standpoint and method, and, for the…