Leibniz Over the Precipice of Hobbes’ Philosophy: Hobbes’ Influence on Leibniz’s Early Conception of Freedom

Abstract

The article discusses the influence of Thomas Hobbes’ philosophy on Gottfried Leibniz’s early view on freedom (early and mid-1670s). The objects of the inquiry are Leibniz’s manuscript “On Freedom” and his letter to Wedderkopf. It is sometimes suggested that “On Freedom” was written by Leibniz in the context of reception of Spinoza’s philosophy. The author of the article shows that there is a strong influence of Hobbes in this fragment and that those ideas that can be attributed to Spinoza are also shared by Hobbes. The author of the article draws attention that the young Leibniz was well acquainted with the works of Hobbes. The article shows that Leibniz’s ideas about causality and the necessity of the absence of coercion for free action are traces of Hobbesian influence. It is also shown that the way to overcome necessitarianism, described by Leibniz in the fragment “On Freedom”, is through a rethinking of the Hobbesian definition of truth. In conclusion, the article suggests that Leibniz saw the main danger of Hobbesian philosophy in the denial of responsibility in the “basic desert” sense.