PREFACE

for his knowledge of things divine and human; justice itself demands that I take this opportunity to offer him my public thanks. Finally, in the last quarter of the year, the Most Powerful King of the Prussians Frederick William I, who had famously banished Wolff from Prussia in 1723 under threat of hanging, but by 1733–1734 was attempting to recruit him back to the University of Halle., with a truly royal munificence which our descendants will praise in times to come, offered me most splendid dignities together with a most lavish salary original: "minervali," a term derived from Minerva (goddess of wisdom) referring to a teacher’s fee or academic stipend. upon my return to Halle original: "Halam," the city where Wolff's controversial philosophical career began.. GOD has directed the hearts of these most powerful Kings toward me; therefore, I ought to worship His providence with public devotion. This adds no small incentive to eagerly continue the labor begun under the auspices of the Most High God original: "Numinis Optimi," literally the "Best Deity.", as long as He preserves the strength of my mind and body. For I have no doubt that one day the human race will reap the fruits that can flow to it from our method of philosophizing original: "philosophandi modo." Wolff refers to his mathematical-demonstrative method, which he believed would bring certainty to all fields of knowledge..