Essays on Theodicy

OF MR. LEIBNIZ.

(a) 7

...ardor The text begins with the second half of the word ardeur (zeal/ardor) from the previous page. anew, as soon as he found himself back in Leipzig, that is to say, in the first months of the year 1664.

In 1664, he returned to Leipzig.

His studies, which were both strenuous and varied during the two years he remained in this City, had as their primary object Philosophy and Law, with that exactness and attention that he brought from his earliest youth to everything that seemed to him worthy of his engagement.

Devotes himself to the reading of Plato and Aristotle.

He read the ancient Greek Philosophers, and his reflections led him not to regard as chimerical In this context, "chimerical" refers to a hopeless or impossible fantasy. the reconciliation of Plato and Aristotle. The example of so many great men who seem to have failed in this design was not enough to discourage him, and it often happened that he spent entire days in a pleasant little Wood which is near Leipzig (a) meditating on this subject. Even if Mr. Leibniz's efforts did not have all the success for the Public that he had promised himself, at least they were not useless for his personal instruction. He made himself familiar with the principles of these two sublime Philosophers; he glimpsed what they had done, and what still remained to be done; finally, he gained insights there that served him well on various occasions, and especially in two remarkable circumstances: the first when he published the Treatise of Nizoli Marius Nizolius (1488–1567) was an Italian philosopher. Leibniz published an edited version of his work On the True Principles of Philosophy in 1670., and the second when he established the System...

(a) Named the Rosendal. The Rosenthal is a historic park in Leipzig that remains a popular public space today.