This anthology is about the signal change in Leibniz's metaphysics with
his explicit adoption of substantial forms in 1678-79. This change can
either be seen as a moment of discontinuity with his metaphysics of
maturity or as a moment of continuity, such as a passage to the
metaphysics from his last years.
Between the end of his sejour at Paris (November 1676) and the first
part of the Hanover period, Leibniz reformed his dynamics and began to
use the theory of corporeal substance. This book explores a very
important part of the philosophical work of the young Leibniz.
Expertise from around the globe is collated here, including Daniel
Garber's work based on the recent publication of Leibniz's
correspondence from the late 1690s, examining how the theory of monads
developed during these crucial years. Richard Arthur argues that the
introduction of substantial forms, reinterpreted as enduring primitive
forces of action in each corporeal substance, allows Leibniz to found
the reality of the phenomena of motion in force and thus avoid reducing
motion to a mere appearance.
Amongst other themes covered in this book, Pauline Phemister's paper
investigates Leibniz's views on animals and plants, highlighting
changes, modifications and elaborations over time of Leibniz's views and
supporting arguments and paying particular attention to his claim that
the future is already contained in the seeds of living things. The
editor, Adrian Nita, contributes a paper on the continuity or
discontinuity of Leibniz's work on the question of the unity and
identity of substance from the perspective of the relation with soul
(anima) and mind (mens).
