Leibniz–Clarke correspondence

High school (ages 12+)
Philosophy & Big Questions

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/leibniz-clarke-correspondence

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the correspondence dates?1715-1716
2. What is the primary philosophical contention?The nature of space: absolute (Clarke/Newton) versus relational (Leibniz)
3. Why did Leibniz write to Clarke?Leibniz wanted to challenge Isaac Newton’s ideas about space and to show that his own view, where space comes from the relationships between objects, was better.
4. What is absolute space?Clarke described absolute space as an endless, unchanging container that exists on its own, like an empty stage where all objects move.

Absolute Space: A theoretical, independent, and unchanging spatial framework existing apart from material objects.
Relational Space: Space conceived as a system of relations and distances determined by the arrangement of objects.
Theodicy: A philosophical or theological justification for the existence of evil in a world created by an all-good, all-powerful God.
Natural Theology: The study of God and His attributes through reason and observation of the natural world.