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Leibniz and the Function of Book Reviews

  • Lucia Oliveri

Leibniz viewed reviews as charitable acts by savants who dedicate part of their time to advancing science and returning it to society. This activity must be disinterested and scientifically honest insofar as it does not bring honor and recognition to the savant. Leibniz was an active reviewer of books for major journals of the time. Does his activity reflect what he says about savants? Through an analysis of a paradigmatic case – his review of John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding – I argue that, in this case at least, Leibniz used reviews as a scientific tool to instill prejudices in his scientific peers. By «prejudices», I do not mean false judgments about a book but rather precognitions that one must have to critically assess a book's content, which may incline readers to reject the author's arguments.

  • Keywords:
  • Leibniz,
  • Locke,
  • Review,
  • Innate Ideas,
  • Substance,
  • Matter,
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Lucia Oliveri

University of Münster, Germany - ORCID: 0000-0001-8022-4538

  1. A = Leibniz, G. W. 1923–2021. Sämtliche Schriften und Briefe. Berlin: Akademie Verlag/DeGruyter.
  2. AT = Descartes, René. 1964–1978. Oeuvres de Descartes, édité par C. Adam, et P. Tannery. Paris: Vrin.
  3. Barth, Christian. 2011. “Apperception in the New Essays Concerning Human Understanding. A Critique of the Reflective Account.” In Natur und Subjekt. ix. Internationaler Leibniz-Kongress, hrsg. von Herbert Breger et al., 37–43. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
  4. Beiderbeck, Friedrich, and Claire Gantet, edited by. 2021. Wissenskulturen in der Leibniz-Zeit: Konzepte – Praktiken – Vermittlung. Berlin-Boston: De Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110730593
  5. Boeker, Ruth. 2021. Locke on Persons and Personal Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198846758.003.0001
  6. Bolton, Martha B. 2015. “Locke on Thinking Matter.” In A Companion to Locke, edited by Mattew Stuart, 334–53. Chichester (UK): Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781118328705.ch17
  7. CSM = Descartes, René. 1984–1991. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, transleted by J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff, D. Murdoch, and A. Kenny, 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  8. Dascal, Marcelo. 2006. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The Art of Controversies. Berlin-Amsterdam: Springer Nature. DOI: 10.1007/1-4020-5228-6
  9. De Rosa, Raffaella. 2002. Innate Ideas and Intentionality Descartes Vs Locke. Dissertation. New Brunswick: Rutgers University.
  10. De Rosa, Raffaella. 2015. “Locke’s Critique of Innatism.” In A Companion to Locke, edited by Matthew Stuart, 157–74. Chichester (UK): Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781118328705.ch8
  11. Essay = Locke, John. 17004. An Essay Corning Human Understanding. London: s.n.
  12. Gantet, Claire. 2021a. “Leibniz und die gelehrten Journale.” In Wissenskulturen in der Leibniz-Zeit: Konzepte – Praktiken – Vermittlung, hrsg. von Friedrich Beiderbeck, und Claire Gantet, 253–88. Berlin-Boston: De Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110730593
  13. Gantet, Claire. 2021b. “Leibniz’ Journalartikel – eine Übersicht.” In Wissenskulturen in der Leibniz-Zeit: Konzepte – Praktiken – Vermittlung, hrsg. von Friedrich Beiderbeck, und Claire Gantet, 289–322. Berlin-Boston: De Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110730593
  14. Giampietri, Francesco, a cura di. 2012. Leibniz allo specchio. Dissimulazioni erudite. Milano: Mimesis.
  15. Jorgensen, Larry M. 2009. “The principle of continuity and Leibniz’s theory of consciousness.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 47, 2: 223–48. DOI: 10.1353/hph.0.0112
  16. Locke, John. 1688. “Extrait d’un livre anglais qui n’est pas encore publié, intitulé : Essay philosophique concernant l’entendement humain.” Bibliothèque universelle et historique 8: 49–142.
  17. Locke, John. 1975. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, edited by Peter H. Nidditch, London: Clerendon.
  18. Lodge, Paul, and Tom Stoneham, edited by. 2015. Locke and Leibniz on Substance. New York: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781315762418
  19. McRae, Robert. 1976. Leibniz: Perception, Apperception, and Thought. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/9781487579777
  20. Oliveri, Lucia. 2016. “Imagination and Harmony in Leibniz’s Philosophy of Language.” Diss. University of Münster. <https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:6-05169689910>.
  21. Oliveri, Lucia. 2019. “The Leibniz-Treuer Correspondence. With text and English translation of excerpts from Treuer’s De mente sensu non errante and Correspondence with Leibniz.” The Leibniz Review 29: 83–104. DOI: 10.5840/leibniz2019298
  22. Oliveri, Lucia. 2021. Imaginative Animals. Leibniz’s Logic of Imagination. Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag. DOI: 10.25162/9783515130516
  23. Oliveri, Lucia. 2021a. “Conceivability Errors and the Role of Imagination in Symbolization.” Jolma the Journal for the Philosophy of Language, Mind and the Arts 2, 2: 293–310. DOI: 10.30687/Jolma/2723-9640/2021/02/002
  24. Oliveri, Lucia. 2024. “Perception and Thought. Leibniz’s Criticism of Descartes’s Denial of Perception to Animals.” Giornale di Metafisica 2: 536–50.
  25. Pelletier, Arnaud. 2017. “Attention et aperception selon Leibniz : aspects cognitifs et éthiques.” Les Études philosophiques 120, 1: 103–18. DOI: 10.3917/leph.171.0103
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  27. Priarolo, Mariangela. 2016. “The Consequences of Error. Leibniz and Toleration.” Rivista di storia della filosofia 71, 4: 745–64. DOI: 10.3280/SF2016-004012
  28. Tabb, Kathryn. 2019. “Locke on Enthusiasm and the Association of Ideas.” In Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy, vol. IX, edited by Ronald Rutherford, 75–104. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198852452.003.0003
  29. Thiel, Udo. 2011. The early Modern Subject. Self Conscsiousness and personal identity from Descartes to Hume. Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press.
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Informazioni sul capitolo

Titolo del capitolo

Leibniz and the Function of Book Reviews

Autori

Lucia Oliveri

Lingua

Inglese

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0999-1.03

Opera sottoposta a peer review

Anno di pubblicazione

2026

Copyright

© 2026 Author(s)

Licenza d'uso

CC BY 4.0

Licenza dei metadati

CC0 1.0

Informazioni bibliografiche

Titolo del libro

Philosophical Reviews in German Territories (1668-1799)

Sottotitolo del libro

Volume 2

Curatori

Pasquale Terracciano, Francesco Valerio Tommasi

Opera sottoposta a peer review

Numero di pagine

282

Anno di pubblicazione

2026

Copyright

© 2026 Author(s)

Licenza d'uso

CC BY 4.0

Licenza dei metadati

CC0 1.0

Editore

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0999-1

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0998-4

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0999-1

eISBN (epub)

979-12-215-1060-7

Collana

Knowledge and its Histories

ISSN della collana

3035-5974

e-ISSN della collana

3035-5923

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