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1、NICHOLASJOLLEY1IntroductionManypeoplefirstcameacrossthename"Leibniz"whenreadingVoltaire'sCandide,andtheencounterisnotlikelytoinspireconfi-denceinLeibnizasagreatphilosopher.InVoltaire'sbitingsatire,theoptimismofDoctorPangloss-whosecharacterisbasedeitheronLeibnizhim
2、selforonhisdisciples-appearsasafoolishandalmostwickedlycomplacentresponsetotheevilsofourworld.ThereadercannothelpbutsympathizewithCandide'srhetoricalquestion:"Ifthisisthebestofallpossibleworlds,...whatcantherestbelike?"=EveninitialexposuretoLeibniz'sowntextsisnota
3、lwaysencourag-ing.PerhapsthemostwidelyreadofLeibniz'sworksistheMo-nadology,andalthough,inmanyrespects,abrilliantsummaryofhisfinalmetaphysicalviews,itisnotthebestintroductiontohisphiloso-phy.Itisnaturaltofeel,asBertrandRusselloncedid,thatwearepresentedwith"akindofm
4、etaphysicalfairytale,coherentperhaps,butwhollyarbitrary";"artoftheproblemisthatthefairytalemeta-physicsispresentedtousina"takeitorleaveit"mannerwithlittleinthewayofsustainedargument.Initially,then,Leibniz'sreputationasaphilosophicalgeniusofthefirstrankmaystrikeusa
5、spuzzling.DeeperacquaintancewithLeibniz'sworkshouldservetodispelthesedoubts.Leibnizdidindeedholdthatthisisthebestofallpossibleworlds,butthisthesisisnotthecomplacentnonsensethatitappearstobe.Alittlereflectionshowsthatitisafairlynaturalpositiontotakeupinresponsetopr
6、oblemsofphilosophicaltheol-ogy.ForifGodisessentiallygood,thenitisdifficult-butnotimpossible-toescapetheconclusionthattheworldthathecreatedmustbethebestofthosealternativesavailabletohim.Moreover,andmoreimportantly,Leibniz'sapparatusofpossibleworldspro-videsacompell
7、ingandinfluentialframeworkfortacklingdeepprob-CambridgeCompanionsOnline©CambridgeUniversityPress,20062Introductionlemsaboutnecessity,contingency,andfreewill.Althoughtheinter-pretationofLeibniziscontroversialinthisarea,itislargelywithinthisframeworkthatheseekstodoj
8、usticetoourintuitionthatJuliusCaesar,forexample,mighthavedoneotherwisethancrosstheRubicon.OrconsidertheMonadology.Farfrombeingagratu-itousmetaphysicalfa
