The Notion of Variation in Leibniz

Abstract

From the very beginning of his scientific studies Leibniz’s philosophical and mathematical thinking was strongly influenced by combinatorial ideas. As a young man he temporarily adhered to Lullism but abandoned this theory rather soon because Lullists such as Athanasius Kircher disappointed him. His conception of a combinatorial art was closely connected with an inventive logic and an art of invention. He made a first major effort in this respect in his Dissertatio de arte combinatoria that appeared in 1666 (Leibniz 1666; Echeverria/Amunategui 2005).