| Divine Machines: Leibniz and the Sciences of Life Subjects: Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Freiherr von 1646-1716 -- Knowledge -- Science; Life sciences -- Philosophy -- History -- 17th century; Science -- Philosophy -- History -- 17th century; Though it did not yet exist as a discrete field of scientific inquiry, biology was at the heart of many of the most important debates in seventeenth-century philosophy. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the work of G. W. Leibniz. In Divine Machines , Justin Smith offers the first in-depth examination of Leibniz's deep and complex engagement with the empirical life sciences of his day, in areas as diverse as medicine, physiology, taxonomy, generation theory, and paleontology. He shows how these wide-ranging pursuits were not only central to Leibniz's philosophical interests, but often provided the insights that led to some of his best-known philosophical doctrines. Justin E. H. Smith is associate professor of philosophy at Concordia University in Montreal. He is the editor of The Problem of Animal Generation in Early Modern Philosophy . |