Berkeley and Leibniz

Berkeley and Leibniz were the originators of two of the most unusual philosophical systems of the Early Modern period. Berkeley (1685-1753) famously denied the reality of matter, claiming that nothing exists but minds and ideas. Leibniz (1646-1716) maintained that the world consists of an infinity of monads or ‘spiritual automata’, each perceiving the whole from its own point of view. He also, notoriously, claimed that the actual world is the best of all possible worlds. By placing these two thinkers in historical context, we will seek to understand how they developed and defended their seemingly counterintuitive views, and ask what we can learn from them today.

Preliminary Reading:

George Berkeley, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (1713)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Monadology (1714)

Introductory Books:

Tom Stoneham, Berkeley’s World (Oxford University Press, 2002)
Nicholas Jolley, Leibniz (Routledge, 2005)
Roger Woolhouse, Starting with Leibniz (Continuum, 2010)

Lectures:The lectures for this module will be held in **, on Tuesdays from 2 - 3 pm in the Spring Term. The lecturer is Dr. Sarah Patterson ().

Seminars:The seminarsfor this module will be held in **, on Tuesdays from 3 - 4 pm in the Spring Term. They will be led by the lecturer and by **.

Readings: Every week there is one key reading that is the focus of the seminar discussion. One of the purposes of the seminar is to help you to understand the reading, so do not worry if you have not fully understood it in advance. Nevertheless, it is essential that you attempt the seminar reading each week if you are to follow the lecture and to participate in the seminar discussion. There is also ‘additional reading’ listed that will deepen your understanding and help you to get the most out of the module. You are especially advised to cover the additional reading for those topics on which you are planning to write.

Essays (BA): This module is assessed by one essay of around 3,000 words. For details concerning submission of the essay, including deadlines, see the BA Handbook.

Prior to this assessed essay, you may also write up to two essays during the course, and receive feedback on them from your seminar leader. These can be useful practice for your eventual assessed essay. You should submit the first such essay by the first seminar after reading week, and the second by one week after the last seminar of term. [Notes: (1) You are always welcome to submit an essay earlier than these dates; (2) the seminar leader should not be expected to comment on the same essay more than once.]

Essay (MA): This module is assessed by one essay of around 3,500 words. For details concerning submission of the essay, including deadlines, see the MA Handbook.

Moodle: Electronic copies of course materials are available through Moodle, at You will need your ITS login name and password to enter.

Texts:

Berkeley: Combined editions of The Principles of Human Knowledge and Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous are published by Penguin and by Oxford World’s Classics. The Principles and the Three Dialogues are available online via Birkbeck eLibrary in the PastMasters collection.
Leibniz: In the list below,Leibniz: Philosophical Writings, ed. G.H.R. Parkinson (Everyman’s Library) is referred to as ‘P’. G. W. Leibniz: Philosophical Essays, ed. R. Ariew and D. Garber (Hackett) is referred to as ‘A&G’.

Schedule of Topics and Readings

Week 1Introduction: Berkeley in Historical Context

Seminar Reading:

Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge, Introduction and Sections 1-7

Additional Reading:

Margaret Atherton, ‘Berkeley’s Anti-Abstractionism’ in W. Creery (ed.), George Berkeley: Critical Assessments (Routledge, 1991)
Kenneth Winkler, Berkeley: An Interpretation (Clarendon Press, 1989), Ch. 2 (ebook available via Birkbeck Library)
George Pappas, Berkeley’s Thought (Cornell University Press, 2000), Ch. 3.
John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book III, Ch. 3 (many editions, 1689). [Available online at

Week 2Berkeley on the Nature of Sensible Things

Seminar Reading:

George Berkeley, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, First Dialogue.

Additional Reading:

Samuel Rickless, Berkeley’s Argument for Idealism (OUP, 2013), Ch. 4 (ebook available via Birkbeck Library)
John Carriero, ‘Berkeley, Resemblance and Sensible Things’, Philosophical Topics (2003) 31: 21-46
Mark Textor, ‘‘Intense Heat Immediately Perceived is Nothing Distinct from a Particular Sort of Pain’’ British Journal for the History of Philosophy (2001) 9: 43-68 (available via JSTOR)

Week 3Berkeley on God

Seminar Reading:

George Berkeley, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, Second Dialogue.

Additional Reading:

Jonathan Bennett, ‘Berkeley and God’, Philosophy (1965) 40: 207-221
Michael Ayers, ‘Divine Ideas and Berkeley’s Proofs of God’s Existence’ in Ernest Sosa (ed.), Essays on the Philosophy of George Berkeley (Reidel, 1987)
Douglas M. Jesseph, ‘Berkeley, God and Explanation’ in Christa Mercer and Eileen O’Neill (eds.), Early Modern Philosophy: Mind, Matter and Metaphysics (OUP, 2005) (ebook available via Birkbeck Library)
Melissa Frankel, ‘Berkeley and God in the Quad’, Philosophy Compass (2012) 6: 388-96 (available via Birkbeck elibrary)

Week 4Berkeley’s Responses to Objections

Seminar Reading:

George Berkeley, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, Third Dialogue

Additional Reading:

Kenneth Winkler, Berkeley: An Interpretation (Clarendon Press, 1989), Ch. 9 (ebook available via Birkbeck Library)
Lisa Downing, ‘George Berkeley’ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Week 5Leibniz on Necessity and Contingency I

Seminar Reading:

Gottfried Leibniz, ‘Necessary and Contingent Truths’ (in P and on Moodle) and ‘On Freedom’ (in A&G and P)

Additional Reading:

David Blumenfeld, ‘Leibniz on Contingency and Infinite Analysis’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (1985) 45: 483-415
Robert M. Adams, ‘Leibniz’s Theories of Contingency’ in his Leibniz: Determinist, Theist, Idealist (OUP, 1999), Part 2 (ebook available via Birkbeck Library)
John Carriero, ‘Leibniz on Infinite Resolution and Intra-Mundane Contingency. Part One: Infinite Resolution’ Studia Leibnitiana (1993) 25: 1-26

Reading Week

Week 6Leibniz on Necessity and Contingency II

Seminar Reading:

Gottfried Leibniz, ‘On Freedom and Possibility’ (in A&G); Discourse §13 (in A&G and P); extracts from the letters to Arnauld (in A&G and P)

Additional Reading:

Robert M. Adams, ‘Leibniz’s Theories of Contingency’ in his Leibniz: Determinist, Theist, Idealist (OUP, 1999), Part 1 (ebook available via Birkbeck Library)
Martin Lin, ‘Rationalism and Necessitarianism’, Noûs (2102) 46: 418-448
John Carriero, ‘Leibniz on Infinite Resolution and Intra-Mundane Contingency. Part Two: Necessity, Contingency and the Divine Faculties’ Studia Leibnitiana (1995) 27: 1-30

Week 7The Best of All Possible Worlds?

Seminar Reading:

Gottfried Leibniz, ‘On the Ultimate Origination of Things’ (in A&G and P) and ‘Abridgement of the Theodicy’ (available online)

Additional Reading:

▪Catherine Wilson, ‘Leibnizian Optimism’ Journal of Philosophy (1983) 80: 765-83

▪Gregory Brown, ‘Leibniz’s Theodicy and the Confluence of Worldly Goods’ Journal of the History of Philosophy (1988) 26: 571-91

▪David Blumenfeld, ‘Perfection and Happiness in the Best Possible World’ in Nicholas Jolley (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz (CUP, 1995)

(ebook available via Birkbeck Library)

Week 8Mind, Body and Pre-established Harmony

Seminar Reading:

Gottfried Leibniz, ‘New System of Nature’ with postscript (in A&G and P)

Additional Reading:

Donald Rutherford, ‘Natures, Laws and Miracles: The Roots of Leibniz’s Critique of Occasionalism’ in Stephen Nadler (ed.), Causation in Early Modern Philosophy (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993)
Marleen Rozemond, ‘Leibniz on the Union of Body and Soul’, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie (1997) 79: 150-178

Week 9Monadology

Seminar Reading:

Gottfried Leibniz, ‘Monadology’ (in A&G and P)

Additional Reading:

Montgomery Furth, ‘Monadology’, Philosophical Review (1967) 76: 169-200

Donald Rutherford, ‘Metaphysics: The Late Period’ in Nicholas Jolley (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz (CUP, 1995) (ebook available via Birkbeck Library)

Week 10Monads and Matter

Seminar Reading:

Gottfried Leibniz, extracts from the letters to de Volder and to Des Bosses (in A&G)

Additional Reading:

Brandon Look, ‘Leibniz’s Metaphysics and Metametaphysics: Idealism, Realism, and the Nature of Substance’ Philosophy Compass (2010) 5: 871-9
Donald Rutherford, ‘Leibniz as Idealist’ in Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy (2008) 4: 141-90
Robert M. Adams, ‘Phenomenalism and Corporeal Substance in Leibniz’,Midwest Studies in Philosophy (1983) 8: 217–257.