How did Leibniz’s calculus of reason aim to make reasoning mechanical?

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History of logic Zeno's paradox, illustrated by Achilles' racing a tortoise.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz proposed the calculus ratiocinator, or "calculus of reason," as a method to transform reasoning into a mechanical or algorithmic process, similar to how large sums are calculated.1

To achieve this, Leibniz envisioned a system that required:
* Symbolism: The use of symbols to represent concepts and their relationships.1
* Explicit Rules: The manipulation of these symbols according to established, formal rules.1

By following these rules, individuals could derive new truths or verify if a conclusion logically followed from a set of premises. Because the process was mechanical, it would be immune to human errors and failures of ingenuity. Leibniz believed this approach would allow deductions to be checked by others or even performed by machines, a concept that anticipated the development of modern computers.1