Leibniz: Die beste aller möglichen Welten?

In the organizer's words:

Optimism as a metaphysical program - a philosophical workshop

Content of the workshop:

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, the great Leipzig philosopher, is one of the most original and at the same time most optimistic thinkers in European intellectual history. As a polymath, he worked on the foundations of modern logic and calculating machines, developed early theories of the unconscious and devised a metaphysics that sought to combine spirituality, natural science and rationality. His thinking revolved around a central conviction: that this world - for all its tangible imperfections - was the best of all possible worlds.

The workshop introduces this famous, often misunderstood postulate of optimism and explores it as a sophisticated metaphysical program. The focus is on the question of how Leibniz thought about freedom, evil, divine rationality and world order - and the philosophical explosive power of this model to this day.

Learning from Leibniz means

• to understand evil not only as a deficiency, but as a condition of free, responsible action
• to think of man as a dynamic, spiritual center of power
• to philosophically mediate visible nature and invisible order

Further information:
The workshop with practical exercises and discussion is aimed at everyone, no previous knowledge is required.

Speaker:

Martin Oßberger has worked as a scientist in many areas of research and development; in the pharmaceutical industry, universities, high schools and non-profit companies. He has been involved in voluntary work for 25 years, initially in AIDS aid and helping the homeless. He then became enthusiastic about practical philosophy, which he got to know at the non-profit organization Treffpunkt Philosophie. There he gives courses and offers seminars and experiential education events. Five years ago, he moved from his birthplace of Munich to Leipzig, where he manages the headquarters of Treffpunkt Philosophie.

Price information:

Prices: 10 € regular 6 € reduced (for pupils and students up to 30 years)