The reception of Leibniz's philosophy in the writings of Charles Bonnet (1720-1793).

Abstract

Charles Bonnet of Geneva, "natural philosopher" as he liked to call himself, is considered one of the fathers of modern biology in view of the stringent experimental approach that he proposed and exemplified in his early work on parthenogenesis in aphids, on regeneration in lower invertebrates, and on the function of plant leaves. But later in his life he became more and more involved in philosophical and metaphysical issues, adopting many aspects of Leibnizian philosophy. Bonnet had his first encounter with Leibniz's Theodicy during the winter of 1748:1 his immediate reaction was to dictate a manuscript entitled Me'ditations sur l'univers to Pastor Bennelle, a friend of his, thus initiating a project that was to keep him busy for the next five years. Following some encouragement by his friend Albrecht von Haller, this manuscript was to serve as the basis for two of Bonnet's books: Considerations sur les corps organises (1762) and Contemplation de la nature (1764). Indeed, he appeared to have adopted Leibnizianism to such an extent that he later felt the need to defend himself against charges of plagiarism raised against him by Abbe Pierre Sigorgne and by the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn.2 This defense, part of which constitutes chapter 7 of Bonnet's famous Pallingenesie philosophique (1769), provides the material on which to base an investigation of how Leibniz's philosophy was modified and incorporated into biologi-