God and Freedom in the Philosophy of Leibniz

FAIN: FA-11444-76

David C. Blumenfeld
Regents of the University of California, Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, CA 95064-1077)

The study is an attempt to solve the problem of God and freedom in the philosophy of Leibniz. One of the problems in the philosophy of Leibniz is how he can square his repeated affirmations of divine and human freedom with other of his basic logical and metaphysical doctrines. It is argued that his theory of truth precludes him from holding that the creation was contingent or that any human action could have been otherwise. The study will argue that earlier commentators who have charged Leibniz with inconsistency have misunderstood his doctrine of freedom on fundamental points.