Leibniz On the Unicorn and Various Other Curiosities
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12619352 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roger Ariew (1Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 267-288 |
| Publication date | 1998-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Early Science and Medicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1383-7427 • E-ISSN: 1573-3823 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/157338298x00068 |
| PMID | 11620556 |
| OpenAlex | W1978657401 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
I discuss some of Leibniz's pronouncements about fringe phenomena--various monsters; talking dogs; genies and prophets; unicorns, glossopetrae, and other games of nature--in order to understand better Leibniz's views on science and the role these curiosities play in his plans for scientific academies and societies. However, given that Leibniz's sincerity has been called into question in twentieth-century secondary literature, I begin with a few historiographical remarks so as to situate these pronouncements within the Leibnizian corpus. What emerges is an image of Leibniz as a sober, cautious interpreter, a skeptic one might say but one who is prepared to concede the possibility of many strange phenomena. Leibniz expects these fringe phenomena to take their place among the natural curiosities catalogued as part of a hoped for empirical database intended as means toward the perfection of the sciences
Art · Art history · Epistemology · Historiography · Interpreter · Literature · Natural (archaeology · Order (exchange · Perfection · Scientific method · Sincerity · Skepticism · Unicorn · Computer Science · Diverse Historical and Scientific Studies · Historical Philosophy and Science · History · History of Science and Medicine · Philosophy · Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.19 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2010 - 2025 (16) |
| Highly cited | No |