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Article: Leibniz' discourse on the natural theology of the Chinese and the Leibniz-Clarke controversy.
- Article from:
- Philosophy East and West
- Article date:
- January 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 University of Hawaii Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
The controversy between Leibniz and Clarke is one of the most significant episodes that the Newtonian system had to face before its definitive victory in the Age of Enlightenment. Leibniz deploys, in this epistolary interchange with the Newtonian Samuel Clarke, a whole battery of arguments against Newtonian philosophy to such an extent that this controversy has become a classic reference in the history of scientific and philosophical thought. (1)
During this exchange of letters, Leibniz was writing the Discours sur la theologie naturelle des Chinois (Discourse on the natural theology of the Chinese), also known as Lettre sur la philosophie ...