Abstract
In his letter to John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Hanover, from 1679, Leibniz embraces an apparently scholastic theory of substantial forms about which modern philosophers were very critical. This is the reason why the years 1678–1679 are important in Leibniz’s development, for it was during this time that Leibniz, thinking within the frame of substantial forms, developed the theory of corporeal substance and laid the groundwork for his theory of monadology.
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Notes
- 1.
Leibniz to John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Hanover (1679); A II, 1, 749–759, especially p. 754; L 259–262, especially p. 261.
- 2.
Aristotle, Metaphysics, VII, 1, 1028b.
- 3.
See Leibniz’s letter to Remond from 10 January 1714, GP III, 606.
- 4.
Descartes, Meditationes de prima philosophia III.
- 5.
See Arnauld’s objection to Meditationes de prima philosophia 4.3.
- 6.
Roger Ariew, Descartes and the Last Scholastics (1999, 155–171).
- 7.
Confessio naturae contra atheistas, GP IV, 109.
- 8.
Theoria motus abstracti, GP IV, 230.
- 9.
De summa rerum, A VI, 3, 474–475.
- 10.
De summa rerum, A VI, 3, 474.
- 11.
De summa rerum, A VI, 3, 477; Parkinson 31.
- 12.
“It is clear from this that there is a world a creatures, living beings, animals, entelechies, souls, in the smallest particle of matter” (Monadology 66, GP VI, 618; L 650).
- 13.
Theoria motus abstracti 17; GP IV, 230; L 141. See also To Arnauld, November 1671, GP I, 71; L 149.
- 14.
De summa rerum, A VI, 3, 524; Parkinson 85.
- 15.
To Arnauld, November 1671, GP I, 71; L 149.
- 16.
Notes on the reply of Foucher to the criticism of his criticism of the Recherche de la verite, L 155.
- 17.
VE 651–652. In order to see more details, see Fichant (1998, 196–197).
- 18.
- 19.
To Duke John Frederick, 1679; A II, 1, 754; L 261.
- 20.
DM 10–12; GP IV, 434–436; L 308–309.
- 21.
NS 2–3; GP IV, 478–479; L 453–454.
- 22.
To Remond, January 10, 1714; GP III, 605–607; L 654–655.
References
Fichant, Michel. 1998. Science et métaphysique dans Descartes et Leibniz. Paris: PUF.
Garber, Daniel. 2009. Leibniz: Body, Substance, Monad. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Nita, A. (2015). Introduction. Leibniz’s Metaphysics and the Adoption of Substantial Forms. In: Nita, A. (eds) Leibniz’s Metaphysics and Adoption of Substantial Forms. The New Synthese Historical Library, vol 74. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9956-0_1
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