Leibniz on Individuals and Individuation: The Persistence of Premodern Ideas in Modern Philosophy

218 Pages·1996·4.519 MB·English

by  Laurence B. McCullough (auth.)

LEIBNIZ ON INDIVIDUALS AND INDIVIDUATION
Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture
VOLUME 3
Series Editor
H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor
College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, and Philosophy Department, Rice
University, Houston, Texas
Associate Editor
Kevin William Wildes, S.1., Philosophy Department and Kennedy Institute of
Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Editorial Board
Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University, Durham, N. C.
Terry Pinkard, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Mary C. Rawlinson, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stuart F. Spieker, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Marx W. Wartofsky, Baruch College, City University of New York
The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
LEIBNIZ ON INDIVIDUALS
AND INDIVIDUATION
The Persistence of Premodern Ideas in
Modern Philosophy
by
LAURENCEB.McCULLOUGH
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA
Springer-Science+Business Media, B. V.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCullough. Laurence B.
Leibniz an individuals and individuation : the persistence of
premodern ideas in modern phllosophy I by Laurence B. McCullough.
p. cm. -- (Philosophlcal studies In contemporary culture ; v.
3)
Includes bibliographlcal references and index.
ISBN 978-90-481-4654-3 ISBN 978-94-015-8684-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-015-8684-9
1. Leibniz. Gottfried WIlhelm. Frelherr von. 1646-1716-
-Contributlons In concept of lndivlduatlon. 2. Indlvlduation
(Phllosophy) r. Tltle. II. Series.
B2599.15M37 1996
1'1--dc20 95-46629
ISBN 978-90-481-4654-3
Printed on acid-free paper
AlI rights reserved
© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Origina1ly published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1996
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover lst edition 1996
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permis sion from the copyright owner.
for my philosophy teachers
especially
Ignacio Angelelli
H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.
Daniel O'Connor
Albert M. Folkard
and
in memoriam
Irwin C. Lieb
v
Table of Contents
Preface xi
A Note on Translations xv
PART ONE: LEIBNIZ'S EARLIEST PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO LEIBNIZ'S INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR
INDIVIDUATION 3
I. The Aims of This Book 3
II. A Methodological Note: Metaphysics and Logic in
Leibniz's Philosophy 5
III. The Division of Labor 6
IV. Contemporary Approaches to Individuals and Individuation 9
V. Leibniz's Approach to Individuals and Individuation 14
Notes 18
CHAPTER 2: INDIVIDUALS AND INDIVIDUATION IN THE DISPUTATIO 22
I. The Opening Sections of the Disputatio 22
II. The Logical and Metaphysical Senses of 'Individual' 23
III. Formal and Fundamental Senses of 'Individual' 30
IV. Principles of Knowing and of Being 30
V. Leibniz's Catalogue of Possible Principles ofIndividuation 31
Notes 32
vii
viii Table of Contents
CHAPTER 3: THE PRINCIPLES OF INDIVIDUATION LEIBNIZ REJECTS
IN THE DISPUTATIO 34
I. Negation as the Principle of Individuation 34
II. Existence as the Principle of Individuation 42
III. Haecceity as the Principle of Individuation 51
IV. Summary 70
Notes 73
CHAPTER 4: THE POSITION LEIBNIZ DEFENDS IN THE DISPUTATIO 90
I. Suarez on the Principle of Individuation 90
II. The Text of the Disputatio 100
III. Analysis of Leibniz's Arguments for Whole Entity as the
Principle of Individuation 103
IV. Summary and Four Problems with Leibniz's Arguments for
Whole Entity as the Principle of Individuation 116
Notes 124
PART TWO: LEIBNIZ'S MATURE PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER 5: INDIVIDUALS AND INDIVIDUATION IN LEIBNIZ'S
MATURE PHILOSOPHY 133
I. Leibniz's Shift from a Static to a Dynamic Model of
Individuals 134
II. Providing a Non Ad Hoc Content to the Principle of
Individuation in the Mature Philosophy 138
III. Summary 151
Notes 152
CHAPTER 6: AN INTERPRETATION OF MAJOR LEIBNIZIAN THEMES 156
I. The Connection between the Metaphysical and Logical
Senses of 'Individua1' 156
II. The Problem of Potential Circularity 169
Notes 177
Table of Contents ix
PART THREE: LEIBNIZ AND MODERN PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER 7: LEIBNIZ AND THE "MODERN" IN MODERN PHILOSOPHY 183
I. Implications for Reading Leibniz 183
II. Leibniz as a "Modem" Philosopher 185
III. Abandoning the "Modem" in Modem Philosophy and the
"Postmodem" in Cultural Analysis 191
No~s 197
INDEX 201
Preface
Leibniz's earliest philosophy and its importance for his mature philosophy
have not been examined in detail, particularly in the level of detail that one
can achieve by placing Leibniz's philosophy in the context of the sources for
two of the most basic concerns of his philosophical career: his metaphysics of
individuals and the principle oftheir individuation. In this book I provide for
the first time a detailed examination of these two Leibnizian themes and trace
its implications for how we should interpret other major Leibnizian themes
and for how we should read Leibniz and other philosophers of the sixteenth
and later centuries as 'modem' philosophers. Leibniz began his philosophical
career more than 300 years ago, a fact that shapes fundamentally my attempt
in the pages that follow to come to terms now with the texts that he left
us. Leibniz's did not do philosophy in a way wholly congenial to twentieth
century philosophical methodologies, especially those that have enjoyed some
prominence in recent Anglo-American philosophy. Moreover, as we shall
see, Leibniz is not a modem philosopher, when 'modem' is understood to
mean making a sharp break with medieval philosophy. Indeed, I shall argue,
scholars should discard such terms as 'modem' from historical philosophical
scholarship, so that old texts can be allowed to remain old - to stand on their
own in and from times now long past.
My philosophy teachers set me on the path that has led to this book and so
I dedicate this book to them, five of them especially. I have benefited enor
mously from their teaching and scholarship and their encouragement of my
non-standard ways of thinking. Albert Folkard introduced me to philosophy
books in his magnificant home library, the most wonderous room I knew as
a child. There Mickey introduced me to old books and the world of ideas.
Daniel O'Connor introduced me to the history of philosophy thirty years ago
at Williams College, an institution to which my gratitude remains complete.
Dan taught us that the authors of these old books may have understood things
better than we do and so we should be open to instruction and correction
from dead philosophers whose voices speak to us now in their literary legacy.
This approach to the history of philosophy was becoming unfashionable at
the time, a situation that surely has become worse in the ensuing decades.
xi