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Culled from a set of expert dialogues delivered by specialists at a conference in 2009, this volume addresses various topics in Mendelssohn´s mathematics and philosophy, including analysis of his discussions with Spinoza, Wolff Baumgarten, Lambert, and Kant.

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This book presents an extended dialogue in essay form between specialists in the work of Moses Mendelssohn, and experts in important trends in related late-seventeenth and eighteenth century thought. The first group of contributors explores themes in Mendelssohn´s metaphysics and aesthetics, presenting both their internal argumentative coherence and their historical context. The second outlines the context of Mendelssohn´s views on specific topics, and describes his contribution to the discussion of them.

The essays are organized in four sections. The first pairs two essays on Mendelssohn´s theory of language and writing. The second section offers three essays addressing a number of topics in Mathematics and philosophy in Mendelssohn. A group of eight essays follows, dealing with Metaphysics in a historical context. The fourth section presents five essays discussing Mendelssohn´s Aesthetics in a historical context.

Moses Mendelssohn´s Metaphysics and Aesthetics arises from a conference held in Amsterdam in 2009, which gathered numerous authorities to address the central theme. Taken together, these eighteen essays present a sophisticated portrait of Mendelssohn, packed with detail and rich in complexity.

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Preface.- THEORY OF LANGUAGE AND WRITING.- Verbal Disputes in Mendelssohn´s "Morgenstunden", D.O. Dahlstrom.- Writing, Dialogue, and Marginal Form: Mendelssohn´s Style of Intervention, W. Goetschel.- MATHEMATICS AND PHILOSOPHY.- Mendelssohn, Wolff, and Bernoulli on Probability, E.D. Sylla.- Mendelssohn on Lambert´s "Neues Organon", P. Basso.- Mendelssohn´s Euclidean Treatise on Equal Temperament, Henk Visser.- METAPHYSICS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT.- Moses Mendelssohn on Spinoza, D. Pätzold.- Mendelssohn´s Concept of the Human Soul in Comparison With Those of Georg Friedrich Meier and Kant, F. Tomasoni.- Turning the Game against the Idealist: Mendelssohn´s Refutation of Idealism in the "Morgenstunden" and Kant´s Replies, C.W. Dyck.- "What is the bond?" The discussion of Mendelssohn and Kant 1785-1787, R.W. Munk.- Divided by Common Sense: Mendelssohn and Jacobi on Reason and Inferential Justification, P. Franks.- The Year 1786 and "Die Bestimmung des Menschen," or "Popularphilosophie" in Crisis, G. di Giovanni.- Mendelssohn versus Herder on the Vocation of Man, F.C. Beiser.- Free Will and Moral Necessity in Mendelssohn, J. Leilich.- AESTHETICS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT.- Mendelssohn´s Theory of Mixed Sentiments, P. Guyer.- The Eighteenth-Century Rehabilitation of Sensitive Knowledge and the Birth of Aesthetics: Wolff, Baumgarten and Mendelssohn, L.C. Madonna.- Mendelssohn´s Spinozistic Alternative to Baumgarten´s Pietist Project of Aesthetics, U. Goldenbaum.- Mendelssohn´s Response to Burke on The Sublime, A. Koller.- Moses Mendelssohn: Iconoclast, G. Freudenthal.

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