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G.W. Leibniz: The Philosophy of Situation
‘Geometric Characteristic’ and other essays on analysis situs
Editor: Matthew McMillan
Translators: David Jekel, Matthew McMillan
Overview
This site shares work on a collection of translations of writings of G.W. Leibniz on his analysis situs. Most of these writings currently have no English edition.
Translations are based primarily on Gerhardt typescripts that are corrected by the Leibniz Archiv specifically for this project (and for eventual inclusion in the Akademie-Ausgabe). We also draw on typescripts published by Couturat, by Mugnai, by Echeverria, and by the Mathesis and Philiumm projects.
- Part I of the volume features the Specimen Geometriae Luciferae and other essays on the philosophy of geometry and space, giving Leibniz’s preliminary encyclopedia of the concepts of geometry.
- Part II features the Characteristica Geometrica and other essays emphasizing aspects of logic, language, and calculus that have been somewhat neglected in English studies of analysis situs.
We hope this volume provides a useful source for Leibniz scholars, as well as a very readable book for English-speaking philosophers and historians of mathematics and computation.
Texts and drafts
| Words | Katalog | Manuscript | Typescript | Tr. Drafts | Bilingual | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – Part I: Concepts – | |||||||
| DQ | De Quantitate | 2,176 | 41016 | pp 1-4 | Archiv 2022 | - 2024-06-25 | |
| CGG | Circa Geometrica Generalia | 3,619 | 40881 | pp 1-8 | Echeverria 55-66 Mugnai 138-47 |
- 2025-05-26 - 2025-06-17 |
|
| SAF | Specimen Analyseos Figuratae | 2,835 | 40892 | pp 21-22 | Mathesis n67, 185-95 | - 2024-06-25 - 2025-10-04 - 2025-10-12 |
|
| SGL | Specimen Geometriae Luciferae | 15,350 | 40983 | pp 1-20 | GM.VII 260-99 Archiv |
- 2025-01-26 | - 2025-01-26 |
| DMM | De Magnitudine et Mensura | 1,546 | 41017 | pp 1-2 | GM.VII 35-40 | - 2024-06-25 | |
| AGP | Analysis Geometrica Propria | 2,398 | 40872 | pp 1-7 | GM.V 172-78 | - 2024-08-07 | |
| IRMM | Initia Rerum Mathe. Metaph. | 3,897 | 39952 | pp 1-2 | GM.VII 17-29 | - 2025-11-08 | |
| – Part II: Characters – | |||||||
| CG | Characteristica Geometrica | 11,162 | 40833 | pp 1-16 | Echeverria GM.V 141-168 Archiv |
- 2025-04-03 - 2025-03-07 |
- 2025-04-03 |
| DDC | De Determinatis et Congruis | 1,248 | 40950 | pp 82-83 | Mathesis n90, 229-34 | - 2025-03-22 | - 2025-01-26 |
| DCS | De Calculo Situs | 1,900 | 40882 | pp 40-44 | Mathesis n62, 168-72 | in progress | |
| DAS | De Analysi Situs | 1,564 | 40852 | pp 1-2 | Archiv 2022 | in progress | |
| DCSM | De Calculo Situum | 2,566 | 40982 | pp 1-8 | Couturat, 548-556 Archiv |
- 2024-06-25 |
List of Latin terms of interest:
- Glossary
- Listed terms are either technical, important for interpretation, or difficult to translate