Metaphysics for an Enlightened Public: The Controversy over Monads in Germany, 1746–1748

Isis 103 (1):1-23 (2012)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay analyzes the controversy that attended the prize essay question on monads proposed by the Berlin Academy of Sciences in 1746. The controversy was first touched off by an anonymous pamphlet published by the mathematician Leonhard Euler, the academy's most well known member, that attacked the doctrine of monads. It peaked with the awarding of the prize to Johann Heinrich Gottlob Justi, whose winning essay closely followed Euler's arguments. This essay discusses the controversy as one instance in a broader quarrel in the German academic community over the suitability of Christian Wolff's philosophy as the foundation for a broad range of academic disciplines, including natural philosophy. It also analyzes the controversy as displaying the central role of the periodical press in the emergent German public sphere.

Categories

Keywords

Reprint years

DOI

10.1086/664974

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 92,873

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

My notes

Similar books and articles

Debating Troy in the Mass Media – The Catalytic Impact of Public Controversy on Academic Discourse.Susann Wagenknecht - 2012 - In Simone Roedder Martina FranzenPeter Weingart & Peter Weingart (eds.), The Sciences’ Media Connection – Public Communication and its Repercussions. Springer. pp. 291-306.
The linguistic organization of public controversy: A note on the pragmatics of political discourse. [REVIEW]William M. Berg & J. Michael Ross - 1982 - Human Studies 5 (1):237 - 248.
Predicaments of Communication, Argument, and Power: Towards a Critical Theory of Controversy.G. Thomas Goodnight - 2003 - Informal Logic 23 (2):119-137.
Some remarks on the “intelligent design” controversy.Branden Fitelson - 2005
The controversy over the existence of ordinary objects.Amie L. Thomasson - 2010 - Philosophy Compass 5 (7):591-601.
1694-1746 Francis Hutcheson 1696-1782 Henry Home, raised to the Bench as Lord Kames 1752 1698-1746 Colin Maclaurin 1698-1748 George Turnbull 1704 Isaac Newton's Opticks. [REVIEW]Thomas Reid - 2004 - In Terence Cuneo Rene van Woudenberg (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Reid. Cambridge University Press.
Conflict about conflicts: The controversy concerning screens.Susan R. Martyn - unknown
Leibniz's Monad and Mulla Sadra's Hierarchy of Being.Ali Fathtaheri - 2008 - Proceedings of the Xxii World Congress of Philosophy 8:93-100.
Reflections on public bioethics: A view from the trenches.Leon Kass - 2005 - Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 15 (3):221-250.
From the Corruption of French to the Cultural Distinctiveness of German: The Controversy over Prémontval’s Préservatif (1759).Avi S. Lifschitz - 2007 - Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century (2007:06):265-290.
The Public Dimension Of Scientific Controversies.Jeanine Czubaroff - 1997 - Argumentation 11 (1):51-74.
No Gaps, No God?Teed Rockwell - 2009 - Philosophy and Theology 21 (1-2):129-153.
Myth and Myth Criticism following the Dialectic of Enlightenment.Avner Cohen - 2010 - The European Legacy 15 (5):583-598.
The Frege-Hilbert Controversy.Patricia Blanchette - 2007 - The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
The Correctorium Controversy and the Origins of the Usus Pauper Controversy.David Burr - 1985 - Speculum 60 (2):331-342.

Analytics

Added to PP
2015-01-31

Downloads
9 (#1,275,915)

6 months
1 (#1,507,819)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

Add more citations

References found in this work

Add more references