Leibnizs Metaphysics Of Time And Space PDF Download

"This work gives fresh interpretations of Gottfried Leibniz's theories of time, space, and the relativity of motion, based on a thorough examination of Leibniz's manuscripts as well as his published papers. These are analysed in historical context, but also with an eye to their contemporary relevance in the philosophy of time, space, and spacetime. Leibniz's views on relativity have been extremely influential, first on Mach, and then on Einstein, while his attempts to provide a formal theory of space through his analysis situs inspired many later developments in geometry. Expounding this novel approach to geometry in some detail, Arthur explains its relationship to Leibniz's metaphysics of space and the grounding of motion, and defends Leibniz's views on the relativity of motion against charges of inconsistency. The brilliance of Leibniz's work on time, though, has not been so well appreciated, and Arthur attempts to remedy this through a detailed discussion of Leibniz's relational theory of time, showing how it underpins his theory of possible worlds, his complex account of contingency, and his highly original treatment of the continuity of time, providing formal treatments in an appendix. In other appendices, Arthur provides translations of previously untranslated writings by Leibniz on analysis situs and on Copernicanism, as well as an essay on Leibniz's philosophy of relations. In his introductory chapter he explains the main theses of Leibniz's non-idealist metaphysics he defended in his earlier Monads, Composition and Force (OUP 2018), and how they provide the framework for the interpretations presented here"--Publisher's description