Leibniz, the Encyclopedia, and the Natural Order of Thinking

This article investigates some of the didactic aspects of Leibniz’s encyclopedic project by asking how it could contribute to the development of a new intellectual ethos. Most commentators acknowledge that the encyclopedia was intimately linked to educational concerns. But they do not take sufficiently into account the implications this has for the concrete exposition of the encyclopedia, but subordinate the didactic aspect to the demonstrative one. I argue how the encyclopedic order was not just demonstrative, but also conceived so as to facilitate learning and stimulate further research by helping intellectuals acquire good scientific habits.