This competition, that has been held since 1983, encourages the study of the philosophy of Leibniz and offers recognition to deserving Leibniz Scholars. As a reward, the article by Omar and Osvaldo will be published in the Internationally renowned journal The Leibniz Review.
Over the past few years, Omar Hraoui, PhD candidate in a joint degree program between Radboud University and Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and Osvaldo Ottaviani, postdoctoral researcher at Radboud University through the Radboud Excellence Initiative fellowship, have developed a very fruitful collaboration in their studies of Leibniz. This has resulted, among other things, in the aforementioned article, in which Omar and Osvaldo analyze and contextualize an unpublished manuscript by Leibniz, which contains a series of his notes and comments on one of Johannes Kepler’s most important works, the Epitome astronomiae copernicanae.
This manuscript reveals several intriguing elements that shed new light on the development of Leibniz’s theory of substance, also known as 'monadology', one of the most important and innovative theories in all of Leibniz’s philosophy. The article also offers an interpretation of Leibniz’s interest in certain concepts from the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, suggesting an ideological link: during a period of increasing tension between Leibniz and the English intellectual world, Leibniz sought to claim the prominent German scientist as a precursor.
See for more information: https://leibnizsociety.org/essay-contest/