Possibility, Agency, and Individuality in Leibniz's Metaphysics

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-8

   PDF

2. Leibniz’s Combinatorial Approach to Possibility

   • Ohad Nachtomy

   Pages 9-49

3. Possible Individuals

   • Ohad Nachtomy

   Pages 51-83

4. The Individual’s Place in Logical Space

   • Ohad Nachtomy

   Pages 85-103

5. Individuals, Worlds and Relations

   • Ohad Nachtomy

   Pages 105-121

6. Possibility and Actuality

   • Ohad Nachtomy

   Pages 123-143

7. Agency and Freedom

   • Ohad Nachtomy

   Pages 145-166

8. Agency and Necessity

   • Ohad Nachtomy

   Pages 167-187

9. Aggregates

   • Ohad Nachtomy

   Pages 189-213

10. Nested Individuals

    • Ohad Nachtomy

    Pages 215-235

11. Possibility and Individuality

    • Ohad Nachtomy

    Pages 237-248

12. Back Matter

    Pages 249-268

    PDF

Leibniz’s notion of possibility is one of his most significant contributions to philosophy as well as one of the cornerstones of his metaphysics. This work attempts to bring out the intrinsic subtlety of Leibniz’s approach to possibility and to explore some of its important repercussions in his metaphysics. This project involves an examination of some of the most difficult questions in Leibniz‘s metaphysics from this vantage point. The book consists of three parts, the first focusing on Leibniz’s notion of possibility, the second on his notion of agency, and the third on his notion of individuality. Leibniz’s preoccupation with the notions of possibility, agency and individuality is evident in his early writings as well as in his later ones. His combinatorial insights regarding the notion of possibility as a model for creating the world, his commitment to the traditional doctrine that activity constitutes being, and his view that individuals are the only true beings are among the formative and persisting tenets of his metaphysics. This work explores these tenets in some detail and seeks to highlight the connections between them. The first part of the book presents Leibniz’s approach to possibility by exposing his early presuppositions about the status and nature of possibilities (chapter 1); his notion of possible individuals (chapter 2); and his notion of possible worlds as constituted by the relations among possible individuals (chapters 3 and 4). The second part discusses the transition from possibility to actuality through the notion of agency.

• Agency
• Individuality
• Leibniz
• Nested individuals
• Possibility
• Relations
• Spinoza
• freedom
• metaphysics

"This book should certainly be read by scholars interested in Leibniz's philosophy, but also by those interested in metaphysical topics in the history of modern philosophy." (Christian Leduc, Princeton University, British Journal for the History of Philosophy 17:4, 2009)

"What is outstanding about this book is the clear line of analysis connecting Leibniz’s views on possibilia in the divine mind with the determinants of contingent simple substances in the actual world. Nachtomy applies a similar analytic approach to the notions of complex substances and living beings, thus unveiling a new systemic configuration of Leibniz’s metaphysics and philosophy of nature." (François Duchesneau, Université de Montréal)

• Bar-Ilan University, Israel

  Ohad Nachtomy

Policies and ethics