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The Notion of Variation in Leibniz

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A Master of Science History

Part of the book series: Archimedes ((ARIM,volume 30))

Abstract

From the very beginning of his scientific studies Leibniz’s philosophical and mathematical thinking was strongly influenced by combinatorial ideas. As a young man he temporarily adhered to Lullism but abandoned this theory rather soon because Lullists such as Athanasius Kircher disappointed him. His conception of a combinatorial art was closely connected with an inventive logic and an art of invention. He made a first major effort in this respect in his Dissertatio de arte combinatoria that appeared in 1666 (Leibniz 1666; Echeverria/Amunategui 2005).

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Correspondence to Eberhard Knobloch .

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Knobloch, E. (2011). The Notion of Variation in Leibniz. In: Buchwald, J. (eds) A Master of Science History. Archimedes, vol 30. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2627-7_14

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