Power and goodness: Leibniz, Locke and modern philosophy

The Relation between power and goodness is a central theme of Western philosophy since Plato and Aristotle. The rise of the concept of absolute power in Scholasticism decisively influences the development of modern philosophy. Leibniz detects the seed of a total crisis of modernity in the modern fascination with power. The first chapter sketches the context of Leibniz's criticism of modern philosophy.;Leibniz's New Essays on Human Understanding ( Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain), a commentary on Locke's Essay concerning Human Understanding, offers a systematic diagnosis of the philosophical implications of the modern conception of power. Chapters two and three treat respectively Leibniz's critique of Locke's anti-innatism and his discussion of Locke's doctrine of liberty. These two chapters also examine Leibniz's own remedies to the weakness of modern philosophy which he finds in Locke's work.;The modern concept of power is a main reason which brings about the crisis of modern natural law. The last chapter surveys the difficulties which confront the modern school of natural law, and articulates the different attempts of Locke and Leibniz to overcome this crisis on their philosophical principles.