Unlike the reclusive Spinoza, the philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a spirited participant in the Republic of Letters, not just a reader and writer but an energetic correspondent and an enthusiastic member of countless literary communities. One unexpected benefit of making him a main character in my new novel, The Organs of Sense, was becoming acquainted with his model of literary citizenship, which even today offers a great deal of useful wisdom for writers who wish to be good literary citizens.
1. Read widely…
The polymathic Leibniz read across all genres: poetry, history, law, philosophy, theology, linguistics, medicine, and mathematics, among many others.
2. …and in more than one language.
He understood German, Latin, French, Greek, English, Italian, Dutch—and also Hebrew, Chinese, and Sanskrit.
3. Workshop with friends.
Leibniz was always on the lookout for new communities with which to share his work. He presented papers to scholarly societies across Europe and toward the end of his life even sought to establish an Imperial Society of Sciences in Vienna.
