Corporeal Substances as Monadic Composites in Leibniz’s Later Philosophy

Abstract

Paul Lodge (Mansfield College Oxford, UK), in the paper Corporeal Substances as Monadic Composites in Leibniz’s Later Philosophy, considers whether there is a defensible reading of the claim that, in his later philosophy, Leibniz characterizes entities composed of a dominating monad and a plurality of subordinate monads as “corporeal substances” (the M-Composite View). This reading has been subject to a number of criticisms by Brandon Look and Donald Rutherford in the introduction to their translation of Leibniz’s Correspondence with Des Bosses. The author argues that there is room for the claim that the M-Composite View accurately captures Leibniz’s intention in this passage, and, contra Look and Rutherford, that at this time in his career Leibniz was sincere in his assertion that entities of this kind are substances. The author finishes by presenting, as a working hypothesis, the suggestion that Leibniz may have been happy with the M-Composite View throughout the remainder of his life.