Stephen Connelly, Leibniz: A Contribution to the Archaeology of Power – Edinburgh University Press, March 2021

A critical reading of Leibniz’s legal theory, linking law, space and power 

Contributes to an archaeology of power

Investigates the deep link between law, space and power

Provides an overview of key concepts from Scholastic thought which are difficult to find in English

The concept of power has been a major feature of natural law theories. It evolved over the course of several centuries and was arguably the defining notion in both Hobbes’ and Spinoza’s doctrines of natural right. Yet Leibniz appears to effect a reversal in this millennium-long trajectory and demotes power to a derivative term of his philosophy. 

What was the rationale behind this radical change? And what does this reversal mean for the philosophy that follows?