Gottfried Leibniz

One of the first rules that is taught when learning Calculus is L’Hospital’s rule. The rule provides an easy technique to solve for a limit that has the indeterminate form 0/0. To get past this roadblock, L’Hospital’s rule allows for the individual differentiation of the numerator and denominator, and taking the limit of the result. If after the first application of the rule the limit once again produces the indeterminate form, it is possible to apply L’Hospital’s rule again. There is mystery…

Introduction: In today’s world, the majority of people have a work computer, home computer, and/or a lap top, because computers have become affordable for the average person. If you look at the history of computers, it has taken us over a century to get to this point. Computers were first used primarily for businesses and government, because they were too expensive and large for personal use by the average person. According to Wikipedia (2016), “a computer is a device that can be instructed to…

Could you imagine a world where women, who practice sciences, are looked down upon and neglected no matter what their ideas and discoveries are simply due to their gender? Well, in the 17th and 18th centuries women practiced in scientific research in many different fields, including, chemistry, astronomy, biology, etc. But, they were not treated with respect or acknowledged due to their gender. Most European universities and academies of science excluded women entirely, some did indeed allow…

During childhood we are always told to be positive and look on the bright side of problems, but is there a limit to how optimistic one can be? In the novella Candide by Voltaire, satire is used to mock optimistic philosophers like Gottfried Leibniz during the Enlightenment movement. Voltaire uses the experiences of his characters to demonstrate the faults in optimistic philosophies, however he gets his main message across by using their reactions to horrific events. The main characters, Candide…

innatism which holds that the mind is not ,what Locke believes to be “blank slate” at birth, but rather, is pre-equipped with certain concepts prior to the sensory experience of them. Some early 17th century innatists include Rene Descartes and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who significantly added on to Plato’s original theory of innatism. Hume’s first argument in support of Concept Empiricism…

The age of Enlightenment is an intellectual movement which began in England in the 17th century. The enlightenment focused on the power and humans rationality. It was a scientific approach to religious, social, economic, and political issues. The enlightenment was an attempt to improve humanity conditions by applying rational thoughts to natural happenings. Voltaire depicted the ideas of the Enlightenment but was satirized into his novella, Candide. Through his novella Candide, Voltaire added…

Oftentimes, humans place religion on a pedestal and view religious beings in a positive light. However, the Age of Enlightenment challenged these customs instead of blindly following them. Similarly, in his satirical novella Candide, Voltaire imbeds his belief that religion is superstitious as he constructs specific characters who mock the superficiality and hypocrisy of it. As he highlights the varying philosophies and beliefs of these characters, he advances the plot and shames the world’s…

• ½ Page: Intro God knows all. A common phrase backed by many theologians and philosophers. However, the statement is not as simple as it first seems. For don’t humans have free will? And for free will to be free, must no one predetermine it? And if no one predetermines it, then surely how can God know it? This question is avoided more than attacked, but nonetheless has been answered by many great thinkers. To begin, we must first clarify our terms of God, free will, and omniscience. God, in the…

by the name of “…metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nogology” (4). Mirroring the philosophies of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a mathematician philosopher who claimed the existence of pre-destiny, Pangloss’s optimistic theories are proven to be irrelevant to Candide’s journey as they cannot possibly be a valid explanation for the different kinds of hardships Candide faces. Voltaire constantly satirizes G.W Leibniz through Pangloss which depicts how ridiculous he considers such philosophers to be. These…

done so that even the common man could understand it. This is not to say that the piece of work is in any way simple, Candide manages to simplify the flawed optimism of the Enlightenment through the mocking of the caricature of the philosopher Gottfried Leibniz who proposed that everything happens for a reason, therefore this world is the best there is. Candide is also somewhat short, this was on purpose as well, because Voltaire believed this format would be best for keeping the reader's…