Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) is one of the most imposing figures in the history of Western thought. In this definitive treatment of his wide-ranging philosophical ideas, Benson Mates has brought his own formidable abilities to bear on the unwieldy--and virtually inaccessible--corpus of Leibniz's work. The result is an elegantly written and meticulously reasoned exegesis of the fundamental Leibniz, one that is destined to be a cornerstone of Leibniz scholarship for years to come. "Teachers who are looking for a brief reliable account of what Leibniz is all about...could hardly do better....Mates writes with clarity and precision....[and] has written what is now probably the best general account of Leibniz's philosophy from the perspective of the logician and general metaphysician."-- International Philosophical Quarterly "An absorbing and instructive book."-- Times Higher Education Supplement "Lucid and readable....A first-rate book on Leibniz."-- Critical Reviews "This is an excellent book: quite possibly the best written on Leibniz since the publication of Russell's A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz ....A challenging, lucid, tightly connected and virtually complete account of Leibniz's metaphysical system and philosophy of language. It is written in a clear and concise style. It displays a full mastery and (first-hand) knowledge, on the author's part, of its (somewhat forbidding) subject matter. It is unquestionably a commanding accomplishment."-- The Philosophical Review "We should be grateful for the excellent work that Professor Mates has done."-- Studia Leibnitiana In this definitive treatment of his wide-ranging philosophical ideas, Benson Mates has brought his own formidable abilities to gear on the unwieldy--and virtually inaccessible--corpus of Leibniz's work. Benson Mates is at University of California, Berkeley.