Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a philosopher, mathematician, diplomat and librarian in the service of the court of Hanover. He invented infinitesimal calculus at the same time as Newton and imagined calculating machines. For him, the universe is made of simple units, the monads, and God chose to create the best of all possible worlds.
Core ideas
The real world is the best of all possible worlds
Reality is made of monads, simple and spiritual units
Nothing happens without a sufficient reason that explains why it is so
The tradition: Optimistic rationalist
An optimistic rationalist trusts reason to explain everything and believes the world is good. Leibniz is the example, with his thesis of the best of all possible worlds.
