Described by Voltaire as “perhaps a man of the most universal learning in Europe,” Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) is often portrayed as a rationalist and philosopher who was wholly detached from the worldly concerns of his fellow men. In this event, Audrey Borowski will challenge the image of Leibniz as an isolated genius, revealing instead a man of multiple identities whose thought was shaped by a deep engagement with the social and intellectual milieus of his time. Borowski will show us Leibniz as he was known to his contemporaries, enabling us to rediscover him as an enigmatic young man who was complex and all too human.

Audrey Borowskiis a research fellow with the Desirable Digitalisation project, a joint initiative of the Universities of Bonn and Cambridge that investigates how to design AI and other digital technologies in responsible ways. She received her PhD from the University of Oxford and is a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement and Aeon. Her first monograph, Leibniz in His World: The Making of a Savant is published by Princeton University Press.

Catherine Wilson is an emerita professor of philosophy at the University of York. She has written many books on the subject of ethics and philosophy, including How to Be an Epicurean (2019) and Leibniz’s Metaphysics (1990).