The German philosopher, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, wrote his first philosophical work at the tender age of seventeen and died at the age of seventy. Leibniz was able to write much in terms of both quantity and quality. His ideas were on significant and difficult subjects, ranging from philosophy, to mathematics, to physics, and engineering. Because he wrote so much and over such a very long period of time, there is much to be reconciled and understood in Leibniz’s philosophy. A sort of rectification should take place, a cohesion of thought between his seemingly disparate ideas. I will present one such tension in Leibniz’s philosophical writings that requires said careful attention. The tension comes via Leibniz’s thoughts on the individual and freedom.
