Discourse on Metaphysics and the Monadology (Great Books in Philosophy)

Rating:
Summary: Great works, bad edition.
Review: There's nothing terribly wrong with the texts themselves in this edition, but it has no explanatory notes or introduction of any kind. This is a particular problem with Leibniz's works, as while he is not a difficult thinker in the same way as Kant or Hegel, his thought runs into a seamless system, and he usually assumes that you know at least something about it in his works. His works are thus very difficult to fully understand if you don't get some kind of third party introduction into his general thought, and that is what kills this edition. I really recommend you get "Philosophical Texts, G.W. Leibniz" from the Oxford range instead of this one. It's a far superior book for both the newcomer to Leibniz, and more serious scholar.

Rating:
Summary: Great works, bad edition.
Review: There's nothing terribly wrong with the texts themselves in this edition, but it has no explanatory notes or introduction of any kind. This is a particular problem with Leibniz's works, as while he is not a difficult thinker in the same way as Kant or Hegel, his thought runs into a seamless system, and he usually assumes that you know at least something about it in his works. His works are thus very difficult to fully understand if you don't get some kind of third party introduction into his general thought, and that is what kills this edition. I really recommend you get "Philosophical Texts, G.W. Leibniz" from the Oxford range instead of this one. It's a far superior book for both the newcomer to Leibniz, and more serious scholar.