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In the autumn of 1676, on his way from Paris to a new post in Hanover, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz stopped in The Hague and spent several days talking with Baruch Spinoza, who had finished the Ethics but not published it. Leibniz was 30, a doctor of law, a member of the Royal Society on the strength of a calculating machine, and the inventor of a calculus he would publish in 1684. He spent the next forty years as a court counsellor and librarian, writing thousands of letters and papers, and only one philosophical book, the Theodicy (1710), in his lifetime. This guide covers his 7 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 7 key books · 1666–1714 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s best-known works are the Monadology (written 1714), the Theodicy (1710), the Discourse on Metaphysics (written 1686) and the New Essays on Human Understanding (finished 1704). Start with the Monadology: some 90 short paragraphs that sum up his whole philosophy, from simple substances to the “best of all possible worlds”.
Where to Start with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
If you want his whole system in a few pages
→ Monadology (1714) — about 90 numbered paragraphs on monads, harmony and God.
If you want his earliest full statement
→ Discourse on Metaphysics (1686) — written in 1686, published only in the nineteenth century.
If you want the problem of evil
→ Theodicy (1710) — the book that coined the word “theodicy”.
If you want his answer to John Locke
→ New Essays on Human Understanding (1704) — a dialogue, chapter by chapter.
7 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Books, in Order
De Arte Combinatoria
Written in early 1666, when Leibniz was 19, at the University of Leipzig; its first part served as his habilitation thesis, defended in March that year. It is a mathematical and logical study of combinations, the early root of his hope that reasoning could one day be done by calculation. Later the same year Leipzig refused him a doctorate, and he took his doctorate in law at Altdorf in November 1666.
Discourse on Metaphysics
A short treatise composed in 1686, the first full statement of the metaphysics Leibniz would later sum up in the Monadology, built on the principle that God always chooses the best. English editions often print it together with his correspondence with Antoine Arnauld. The Discourse was not published until the nineteenth century.
New System of the Nature and Communication of Substances
A journal article of 1695, his public entry into European philosophy. It deals, as its title says, with what substances are and how they communicate, the problem to which his answer would become the pre-established harmony: substances do not act on one another but agree because God arranged them so from the start.
New Essays on Human Understanding
A chapter-by-chapter reply, in French, to John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689), written as a dialogue between Philalethes, who speaks for Locke, and Theophilus, who speaks for Leibniz. Against Locke, it defends innate ideas, and it also covers personal identity, free will, language and necessary truth. Leibniz finished it in 1704 but gave Locke’s death as his reason for not publishing it; it appeared only in 1765, in an edition of his philosophical works by R. E. Raspe.
Theodicy
Published in French in 1710 as Essais de Théodicée, it introduced the word “theodicy”. Much of it answers the French philosopher Pierre Bayle, and it draws on Leibniz’s long conversations with Sophia Charlotte of Hanover. Its central argument is that God created the world with the greatest possible balance of good over evil, the “best of all possible worlds”, an optimism Voltaire later satirised in Candide. It was the only book-length philosophical treatise Leibniz published in his lifetime.
Monadology
Some 90 short paragraphs in French, written during his last stay in Vienna (1712–1714) as a summary of his philosophy. The world, he argues, is made of monads: simple substances endowed with perception and appetite, which do not act on one another but agree through a pre-established harmony; matter is a phenomenon that results from them, and God is the supreme monad. It first appeared in German in 1720 and in Latin in 1721; the French original was not published until 1840.
Principles of Nature and Grace
The companion to the Monadology, written in French in Vienna in the same period and intended for Prince Eugene of Savoy. It covers the same ground more briefly, from simple substances to God and the moral order. It was published in French in the Netherlands after Leibniz’s death, and Christian Wolff’s circle at first mistook it for the original of the Monadology.
In What Order to Read Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Leibniz published little in book form: most of his philosophy is in letters, journal articles and manuscripts that appeared after his death in 1716. The years on this page are therefore the years he wrote each work; only De Arte Combinatoria, the New System and the Theodicy were published in his lifetime. Read in this order, they show one system developing from the Discourse of 1686 to the summaries of 1714.
Most readers start with the Monadology and go back to the Discourse on Metaphysics for the longer argument. The Theodicy and the New Essays are long books written in reply to others, Bayle and Locke, and are easier once you know the system. English selections usually print the Discourse, the New System, the Monadology and the Principles of Nature and Grace in one volume.
A reading path
1. Monadology (1714)
2. Principles of Nature and Grace (1714)
3. Discourse on Metaphysics (1686)
4. New System (1695)
5. Theodicy (1710)
6. New Essays on Human Understanding (1704)
Other Leibniz Writings
Beyond the 7 key books: 2 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Correspondence and short essays
2
2 books · 1689–1717
- 1689Primae veritates“First Truths”, a short essay on logic and metaphysics; undated, assigned by scholars to Vienna, 1689, and first published by Louis Couturat in 1903
- 1717A Collection of Papers which passed between the late learned Mr. Leibnitz and Dr. Clarkehis last philosophical exchange, published the year after his death
The years · 1646–1716
Quick facts about Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- Known for
- Leibniz is known for developing the calculus independently of Isaac Newton, for the theory that reality is made of simple perceiving substances he called monads, and for the claim that this is the best of all possible worlds.
- 1646
- Born in Leipzig
- 1672
- Moves to Paris; studies mathematics with Huygens
- 1684
- Publishes his calculus
- 1714
- Writes the Monadology in Vienna
- 1716
- Dies in Hanover
- Born
- 1 July 1646 (21 June Old Style), Leipzig, Electorate of Saxony
- Education
- Leipzig (BA 1662, MA 1664); doctorate in law, Altdorf, November 1666
- Paris
- 1672–1676, where Christiaan Huygens guided his study of mathematics and physics
- Worked
- Privy Counsellor of Justice in Hanover from 1677; librarian of the Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, from 1691
- Academies
- External member of the Royal Society (1673); foreign member of the French Academy of Sciences (1700)
- Died
- 14 November 1716, Hanover; buried in the Neustädter Kirche, in a grave unmarked for over 50 years
The red mark is 1714: in Vienna, Leibniz wrote the Monadology, the short summary of his philosophy.
How Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Writes: Philosophy in Letters and Summaries
Leibniz wrote mostly in French and Latin, and mostly for one reader at a time. The Discourse on Metaphysics is usually read with his letters to Antoine Arnauld; the Principles of Nature and Grace was meant for Prince Eugene of Savoy; the Theodicy grew out of conversations with Sophia Charlotte of Hanover; his last debate, with Dr Clarke, was a series of letters. His preferred form for his system is the numbered summary: the Monadology fits the whole of it into some 90 short paragraphs.
His other habit is to argue with a named opponent. The New Essays follow Locke’s Essay chapter by chapter as a dialogue, Theophilus against Philalethes, and much of the Theodicy replies to Pierre Bayle. Behind both lies the logician of De Arte Combinatoria, who hoped disputes could one day be settled by calculation: “Let us calculate, without further ado, to see who is right.”
Where his near-contemporary Spinoza held that there is only one substance, God or nature, Leibniz held that there are infinitely many simple substances, each with its own perceptions, held together not by interaction but by a harmony God established from the start; matter is how those perceiving substances appear. That makes him a thinker of unity in multiplicity rather than of non-duality. For the one-substance alternative, see Books by Baruch Spinoza.
Frequently asked questions about Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s books
How many books has Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz written?
Very few in book form: most of his work is in letters, journal articles and manuscripts. This page covers 7 key works, from De Arte Combinatoria (1666) to the Monadology and the Principles of Nature and Grace (both 1714). The Theodicy (1710) was the only book-length philosophical treatise he published in his lifetime.
What are Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s books in order?
In order of writing: De Arte Combinatoria (1666), Discourse on Metaphysics (1686), New System of the Nature and Communication of Substances (1695), New Essays on Human Understanding (finished 1704, published 1765), Theodicy (1710), Monadology (1714, published 1720) and Principles of Nature and Grace (1714).
Where should I start with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz?
With the Monadology, some 90 short paragraphs that summarise his philosophy. Then read the Discourse on Metaphysics (1686) for the fuller argument, and the Theodicy if you are interested in the problem of evil.
What is Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s most famous book?
The Monadology (1714), his summary of the theory of monads and pre-established harmony. The Theodicy (1710) is famous for the phrase “the best of all possible worlds”.
Did Leibniz or Newton invent calculus?
Both are credited. Leibniz began working on calculus in 1674, his notebooks show it from 1675, and he published it in 1684. In 1708 John Keill, writing in the Royal Society’s journal, accused him of plagiarising Isaac Newton. After Leibniz demanded a retraction, the Royal Society investigated and upheld Keill’s charge; Newton’s part in that investigation was not acknowledged. The dispute lasted until Leibniz’s death. Since about 1900, historians have tended to acquit Leibniz, pointing to the differences between his version and Newton’s.
What does “the best of all possible worlds” mean?
In the Theodicy Leibniz argued that God, being good and wise, created the world with the greatest possible balance of good over evil, so that our world, evil included, is in that qualified sense the best one possible. Voltaire satirised the idea in Candide.
Did Leibniz meet Spinoza?
Yes. In 1676, on his way from Paris to Hanover, Leibniz stopped in The Hague and spent several days in discussion with Baruch Spinoza, who had finished the Ethics but not published it. Spinoza died a few months later.
Was the Monadology published in Leibniz’s lifetime?
No. He wrote it in French in Vienna in 1714. It first appeared in a German translation in 1720 and in Latin in 1721; the French original was not published until 1840.
Is Leibniz a non-dual philosopher?
Not in the strict sense. Unlike Spinoza, who held that there is only one substance, Leibniz held that reality consists of countless simple substances, monads, each endowed with perception. They do not interact; their agreement comes from a harmony God established in advance, and matter is a phenomenon that results from them. His philosophy is about how many perceiving beings form one ordered world.
Did Leibniz invent binary numbers?
He is credited with devising the modern binary number system, though the English mathematician Thomas Harriot had worked out the same system decades earlier.
Footnotes
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — Wikipedia
- Monadology — Wikipedia
- New Essays on Human Understanding — Wikipedia
- Théodicée — Wikipedia
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Nothing is in the mind without being first in the senses, except for the mind itself.”
— Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, New Essays on Human Understanding (finished 1704), Book II, in translation
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