Du Châtelet’s Relation to Leibniz and Wolff – Similarities and Differences

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The proposed project intends to foster and further detailed research on Du Châtelet’s relationship to Leibniz and Wolff. Du Châtelet’s own references to Leibniz and Wolff refer mainly to her metaphysical foundations and thus to a substantial aspect of her work, especially when seen from a philosophical perspective. The overall aim of the project is to contribute to a systematic investigation of Du Châtelet’s significance in the history of philosophy by analyzing her metaphysical contribution in comparison to Leibniz and Wolff; in its content and its historical context. To this end we plan to bring the renowned Leibniz scholar Jeffrey McDonough to Paderborn as a Mercator Fellow in order to unite our expertise on Émilie du Châtelet at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists with his expertise on Leibniz and Wolff. We are planning to encourage further research by internationally renowned scholars on many aspects of the theme through a large conference in Paderborn and through the Harvard History of Philosophy Workshop, which Jeffrey McDonough will bring to Paderborn for the duration of the project. The project is intended to culminate in a comprehensive collected volume with a detailed introduction. The volume will reflect the project’s findings about Du Châtelet’s relationship to Leibniz and Wolff and the investigation of their similarities and differences. As a result, the project will elucidate what it is that Du Châtelet took on from Leibniz or Wolff respectively, where she differs from those authors, and in which historical context her relationship to Leibniz and Wolff has to be seen. Through this investigation Du Châtelet’s own contributions in the context of her metaphysical opening chapters will become systematically evident.