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GERMAN PHILOSOPHICAL CLASSICS
FOR
ENGLISH READERS AND STUDENTS.
EDITED BY
GEORGE S. MORRIS.
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.
The purpose of the series of which thepresent volume is one, is not, as will beseen by reference to the statement in the initialvolume, to sum up in toto the systemof any philosopher, but to give a “critical exposition”of some one masterpiece. In treatingthe “Nouveaux Essais” of Leibniz, I havefound myself obliged, at times, to violate theletter of this expressed intention, in order tofulfil its spirit. The “Nouveaux Essais,” inspite of its being one of the two most extendedphilosophical writings of Leibniz, is a compendiumof comments, rather than a connectedargument or exposition. It has all the suggestivenessand richness of a note-book, butwith much also of its fragmentariness. I havetherefore been obliged to supplement my account of it by constant references to the otherwritings of Leibniz, and occasionally to takeconsiderable liberty with the order of the treatmentof topics. Upon the whole, this bookwill be found, I hope, to be a faithful reflexnot only of Leibniz’s thought, but also of hisdiscussions in the “Nouveaux Essais.”
In the main, the course of philosophic thoughtsince the time of Leibniz has been such asto render almost self-evident his limitations,and to suggest needed corrections and amplifications.Indeed, it is much easier for thosewhose thoughts follow the turn that Kanthas given modern thinking to appreciate thedefects of Leibniz than to realize his greatness.I have endeavored, therefore, in the bodyof the work, to identify my thought with thatof Leibniz as much as possible, to assumehis standpoint and method, and, for the mostpart, to confine express criticism upon his limitationsto the final chapter. In particular, Ihave attempted to bring out the relationsof philosophy to the growing science of his times, to state the doctrine of pre-establishedharmony as he himself meant it, and to givesomething like consistency and coherency tohis doctrine of material existence and of nature.This last task seemed especially to requiredoing. I have also endeavored to keepin mind, throughout, Leib