  In his earliest days, Leibniz read a wide range of works  drawn from his father’s considerable library. Later he was formally  educated at the University of Leipzig (1661–1666), briefly at the  University of Jena (1663), and finally at the University of Altdorf  (1666–1667). From these sources, Leibniz gained an early acquaintance with the Aristotelian-Scholastic tradition, as well as a taste of  neo-platonic themes common in Renaissance humanism. By his own  account, he quickly “penetrated far into the territory of the  Scholastics,” and derived “some satisfaction” from  “Plato too, and Plotinus” (G III 606/L 655). Although he  consciously broke with the Scholastic tradition while still quite  young, its doctrines clearly made a lasting impression on him, and  served him both as a font of ideas and a readily available target of  criticism. Indeed, one can justifiably see many of Leibniz’s mature  doctrines as reactions – either positive or negative – to the Scholastic views that he first became acquainted with while still a student in Germany.