Scientia Perspectiva. Leibniz and geometric perspective

Abstract

Leibniz's manuscripts on perspective geometry remained unpublished and unknown until very recently. Among them, Scientia perspectiva stands out as the most complex and the most original. In this paper, we offer a thorough analysis of this manuscript, showing how Leibniz moves from perspective concepts fairly common at that time to a completely new idea of the practice that could have affected its entire history. This new science represents not only Leibniz's unique contribution to the development of perspective but also casts a new light on his own notion of space and geometry and their philosophical grounding.