Author: Justin E. H. Smith File Type: pdf Though it did not yet exist as a discrete field of scientific inquiry, biology was at the heart of many of the most important debates in seventeenth-century philosophy. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the work of G. W. Leibniz. In Divine Machines, Justin Smith offers the first in-depth examination of Leibnizs deep and complex engagement with the empirical life sciences of his day, in areas as diverse as medicine, physiology, taxonomy, generation theory, and paleontology. He shows how these wide-ranging pursuits were not only central to Leibnizs philosophical interests, but often provided the insights that led to some of his best-known philosophical doctrines. Presenting the clearest picture yet of the scope of Leibnizs theoretical interest in the life sciences, Divine Machines takes seriously the philosophers own repeated claims that the world must be understood in fundamentally biological terms. Here Smith reveals a thinker who was immersed in the sciences of life, and looked to the living world for answers to vexing metaphysical problems. He casts Leibnizs philosophy in an entirely new light, demonstrating how it radically departed from the prevailing models of mechanical philosophy and had an enduring influence on the history and development of the life sciences. Along the way, Smith provides a fascinating glimpse into early modern debates about the nature and origins of organic life, and into how philosophers such as Leibniz engaged with the scientific dilemmas of their era. Though it did not yet exist as a discrete field of scientific inquiry, biology was at the heart of many of the most important debates in seventeenth-century philosophy. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the work of G. W. Leibniz. In Divine Machines, Justin Smith offers the first in-depth examination of Leibnizs deep and complex engagement with the empirical life sciences of his day, in areas as diverse as medicine, physiology, taxonomy, generation theory, and paleontology. He shows how these wide-ranging pursuits were not only central to Leibnizs philosophical interests, but often provided the insights that led to some of his best-known philosophical doctrines.Presenting the clearest picture yet of the scope of Leibnizs theoretical interest in the life sciences, Divine Machines takes seriously the philosophers own repeated claims that the world must be understood in fundamentally biological terms. Here Smith reveals a thinker who was immersed in the sciences of life, and looked to the living world for answers to vexing metaphysical problems. He casts Leibnizs philosophy in an entirely new light, demonstrating how it radically departed from the prevailing models of mechanical philosophy and had an enduring influence on the history and development of the life sciences. Along the way, Smith provides a fascinating glimpse into early modern debates about the nature and origins of organic life, and into how philosophers such as Leibniz engaged with the scientific dilemmas of their era.ReviewSmith thus offers a broader historical context than the title suggests. But with Divine Machines, Leibniz himself emerges as a fascinating example of the early modern obsession with the grand questions about life, and is for this reason certainly of interest to historians of science and medicine. (Stephanie Eichberg British Journal for the History of Science )Smiths . . . book affords quite a number of innovative analyses and is due to become a landmark of Leibniz studies. (Francois Duchesneau HOPOS Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science )Even in the instances where the readers doubts linger, Smiths scholarship makes a convincing case and one is required to look anew at Leibnizs most well known commitments. For the contributions it makes in our understandings of Leibniz and for the way in which Leibniz is integrated in the emergence of the life sciences, Divine Machines is highly recommended reading. (Lea F. Schweitz Aestimatio ) From the Inside FlapWith this book, Justin Smith turns the world of Leibniz scholarship upside down. Others have argued for the centrality of Leibnizs views on language and logic, or on physics and mathematics, or on theology, but Smith shows us how to read this key figure in the history of modern thought through his biology. This learned, original, and exciting book is obligatory reading for anyone interested in the origins of modern philosophy.--Daniel Garber, Princeton UniversityI can not overstate how important Divine Machines is to Leibniz studies and the history of early modern philosophy and science. There is so much material here, so many sources, so many arguments, so many connections made, that even as I write this I am distracted by thoughts of the many avenues of research Smith has opened up to the rest of us. Divine Machines is a watershed moment.--Gideon Manning, California Institute of TechnologySmiths book is the first comprehensive, full-length study in English dedicated to Leibnizs philosophy of biology. He provides a very broad and detailed historical context for a fuller understanding of Leibnizs place in the history of the life sciences. Smith has uncovered and drawn upon many of Leibnizs own texts which have been understudied or even unused by other scholars. The scholarship is exemplary.--Karen Detlefsen, University of Pennsylvania

Author: Henry Miller File Type: epub This study is not literary criticism but a fascinating chapter in Millers own spiritual autobiography. The social function of the creative personality is a recurrent theme with Henry Miller, and this book is perhaps his most poignant and concentrated analysis of the artists dilemma. **From the Back Cover This study is not literary criticism but a fascinating chapter in Millers own spiritual autobiography. The social function of the creative personality is a recurrent theme with Henry Miller, and this book is perhaps his most poignant and concentrated analysis of the artists dilemma. About the Author Henry Miller (18911980) was one of the most controversial American novelists during his lifetime. His book, The Tropic of Cancer, was banned in the some U.S. states before being overruled by the Supreme Court. New Directions publishes several of his books.