The Leibniz-Des Bosses Correspondence

558 Pages·2007·1.87 MB·English

by  G. W. Leibniz

T
he Yale Leibniz
Daniel Garberand Robert C. Sleigh, Jr.
General Editors
The Yale Leibniz is a series of books containing texts
and translations of the works of G. W. Leibniz. Each
volume contains both the original language text and an
English translation on facing pages. The original
language text is up to the highest standard of modern
textual scholarship. Some texts will be reprinted from
theSamtliche Schriften und Briefe,in progress
under the general editorship of the Akademie der
Wissenschaften; others are taken from editions that
meet the high standards of that edition. Some texts will
be edited or re-edited from the manuscripts and early
printed sources, with the cooperation of the editors of
the Akademie edition. The translations are newly
commissioned with the aim of making the texts more
easily available to both students and scholars.
The series is intended to produce neither a complete
edition of Leibniz’s writings nor a comprehensive
selected works edition. Although there will be uniform
standards of editing and translation, each volume is
intended to be independent, a collection of texts that
constitute a natural unit. The focus of the series is
Leibniz’s philosophical thought, but this is interpreted
broadly enough to include not only his metaphysics and
epistemology but also his theology, his physics, and
even aspects of his mathematics.
Each volume will be edited and translated by a scholar
selected from the best of the international community
of scholars working on late seventeenth-century
philosophy.

G. W. Leibniz
T
he Leibniz–Des Bosses Correspondence
Translated, Edited, and with an Introduction
by Brandon C. Look and Donald Rutherford
New Haven and London: Yale University Press
Published with the assistance of the Ernst
Cassirer Publications Fund.
Copyright ©2007 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in
part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond
that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108
of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by review-
ers for the public press), without written permis-
sion from the publishers.
Designed by Sonia Shannon.
Set in Times Roman type by The Composing
Room of Michigan, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Freiherr von, 1646–
1716.
[Correspondence. English & Latin. Selections]
The Leibniz–Des Bosses correspondence /
G. W. Leibniz ; translated, edited, and with an
introduction by Brandon C. Look and Donald
Rutherford. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (The Yale Leibniz)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-11804-9 (alk. paper)
1. Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Freiherr von,
1646–1716—Correspondence. 2. Des Bosses,
Barthélémy, 1663–1738—Correspondence.
3. Philosophers—Germany—Correspondence.
I. Look, Brandon. II. Rutherford, Donald,
1957– III. Title.
B2597.A4 2007
193—dc22
2007009224
Acatalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for
permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface ix
List of Abbreviations xiii
ANote on the Texts and Translation xv
Introduction xix
1 Background xx
2 The Role of Correspondences xxi
3 The Search for Accord xxiii
4 Leibniz and the Jesuits: China and the Universal Church xxv
5 Jansenism xxix
6 The Metaphysics of Substance xxxviii
7 The Union of Soul and Body xlv
8 Composition and the Unity of Corporeal Substance xlix
9 The Problem of Transubstantiation lvii
10 Leibniz on Transubstantiation and the Vinculum Substantiale lx
11 Leibniz’s Final Metaphysics: Idealism or Realism? lxxii
The Leibniz–Des Bosses Correspondence 1
1 Des Bosses to Leibniz 25 January 1706 2
2 Leibniz to Des Bosses 2 February 1706 6
3 Des Bosses to Leibniz 12 February 1706 12
4 Leibniz to Des Bosses 14 February 1706 20
5 Des Bosses to Leibniz 2 March 1706 24
6 Leibniz to Des Bosses 11 March 1706 30
7 Des Bosses to Leibniz 21 May 1706 38
8 Leibniz to Des Bosses 11 July 1706 42
9 Des Bosses to Leibniz 20 August 1706 46
10 Leibniz to Des Bosses 1 September 1706 48
11 Des Bosses to Leibniz 17 September 1706 52
Contents vi
12 Leibniz to Des Bosses 20 September 1706 58
13 Des Bosses to Leibniz 29 September 1706 64
14 Leibniz to Des Bosses 4 October 1706 68
15 Des Bosses to Leibniz 14 October 1706 70
16 Leibniz to Des Bosses 16 October 1706 76
17 Leibniz to Des Bosses 5 February 1707 80
18 Des Bosses to Leibniz 25 June 1707 84
19 Leibniz to Des Bosses 21 July 1707 90
20 Leibniz to Des Bosses 3 September 1708 100
21 Leibniz to Des Bosses 12 September 1708 104
22 Des Bosses to Leibniz 5 October 1708 108
23 Leibniz to Des Bosses mid-October 1708 112
24 Des Bosses to Leibniz 14 February 1709 116
25 Leibniz to Des Bosses 16 March 1709 118
26 Des Bosses to Leibniz 22 April 1709 120
27 Leibniz to Des Bosses 30 April 1709 122
28 Des Bosses to Leibniz 30 July 1709 128
29 Leibniz to Des Bosses 31 July 1709 136
30 Des Bosses to Leibniz 6 September 1709 140
31 Leibniz to Des Bosses 8 September 1709 148
32 Des Bosses to Leibniz 18 January 1710 152
33 Des Bosses to Leibniz 25 March 1710 164
34 Leibniz to Des Bosses 2 May 1710 164
35 Des Bosses to Leibniz 14 June 1710 172
36 Leibniz to Des Bosses 2 July 1710 176
37 Des Bosses to Leibniz 18 July 1710 180
38 Leibniz to Des Bosses 4 August 1710 182
39 Des Bosses to Leibniz 11 October 1710 186
40 Leibniz to Des Bosses 7 November 1710 188
41 Des Bosses to Leibniz 6 January 1711 190
Contents vii
42 Leibniz to Des Bosses 8 February 1711 198
43 Des Bosses to Leibniz 25 April 1711 200
44 Leibniz to Des Bosses 8 July 1711 206
45 Des Bosses to Leibniz 18 August 1711 208
46 Leibniz to Des Bosses 7 September 1711 210
47 Des Bosses to Leibniz 28 January 1712 212
48 Leibniz to Des Bosses 15 February 1712 220
49 Des Bosses to Leibniz 20 May 1712 234
50 Leibniz to Des Bosses 26 May 1712 240
51 Des Bosses to Leibniz 12 June 1712 244
52 Leibniz to Des Bosses 16 June 1712 254
53 Des Bosses to Leibniz 28 August 1712 256
54 Leibniz to Des Bosses 20 September 1712 266
55 Leibniz to Des Bosses 10 October 1712 276
56 Des Bosses to Leibniz 12 December 1712 278
57 Leibniz to Des Bosses 24 January 1713 294
58 Des Bosses to Leibniz 8 August 1713 312
59 Leibniz to Des Bosses 23 August 1713 316
60 Leibniz to Des Bosses 10 January 1714 322
61 Des Bosses to Leibniz 22 March 1714 322
62 Leibniz to Des Bosses 21 April 1714 324
63 Des Bosses to Leibniz 20 September 1714 328
64 Leibniz to Des Bosses 15 March 1715 330
65 Des Bosses to Leibniz 6 April 1715 332
66 Leibniz to Des Bosses 29 April 1715 336
67 Leibniz to Des Bosses 30 June 1715 338
68 Des Bosses to Leibniz 20 July 1715 340
69 Leibniz to Des Bosses 19 August 1715 346
70 Leibniz to Des Bosses 13 January 1716 358
71 Leibniz to Des Bosses 29 May 1716 364
Contents viii
Appendix:Catalogue of the Leibniz–Des Bosses
Correspondence 381
Notes 389
Bibliography 455
Index of Names 463
Index of Subjects 470
Preface
T
he Leibniz–Des Bosses correspondence attracted both of us,
though at the time separately, as we were working on issues in
Leibniz’s metaphysics relating to the nature of matter and sub-
stance. Leibniz’s extended exchange with Des Bosses, carried out during
the final decade of Leibniz’s life (1706–16), sometimes seemed to raise as
many questions as it answered, and this complexity proved fascinating. It
was also somewhat frustrating, for only a modest selection of the letters
was available in English translation, and the then-standard Latin text of
Gerhardt proved on closer inspection to be deficient. Indeed, as we looked
through the original manuscripts, not only did we become aware of mis-
takes in Gerhardt’s edition; we also realized that Leibniz’s drafts and mar-
ginal comments contained important clues to a deeper understanding of
his thought in general. Acritical edition of this correspondence seemed an
obvious project to undertake, and we were fortunate that the Yale Leibniz
series had been initiated by Bob Sleigh and Dan Garber and that our edi-
tion could be incorporated into it.
This was not, however, a joint project from the beginning. Don Ruther-
ford began the work but, realizing the size of the task, asked Brandon
Look to join him as a partner. Like Leibniz and Des Bosses themselves, we
have been correspondents for ten years now, asking and answering ques-
tions, exchanging drafts of translations, and gently prodding each other
along the way.
It has been our intention to produce a work that will satisfy two goals: to
provide English-speaking students, philosophers, and historians of philos-
ophy with a detailed and historically informed picture of the Leibniz–Des
Bosses correspondence; and to provide Leibniz scholars with a dependa-
ble and useful resource for further work. This edition presents translations
of 71 of the 138 letters exchanged between Leibniz and Des Bosses—
those that we take to be of the greatest philosophical and historical impor-
tance. On the basis of our study of this material, we believe that we have
made significant progress in understanding the central philosophical is-
sues discussed in the correspondence—especially the status of the notori-
ous hypothesis of the vinculum substantiale—and that as a result we have
been able to formulate a fuller and more satisfactory interpretation of the
final form of Leibniz’s philosophy than has previously been available.
These conclusions are presented in our introduction.
For the benefit of Leibniz scholars, this edition also includes a new, crit-
ical, original-language text. Unlike previous volumes in the Yale Leibniz
series, which could adopt the Akademie edition text, the Latin presented
ix