Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-24hb2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T11:55:21.024Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Leibniz's Close Encounter with Cartesianism in the Correspondence with De Volder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2009

Paul Lodge
Affiliation:
Fellow Mansfield College, Oxford; Lecturer in Early Modern Philosophy University of Oxford
Paul Lodge
Affiliation:
Mansfield College, Oxford
Get access

Summary

Much of Leibniz's philosophy can be seen as a direct response to the views of Descartes. Sadly, there was no interaction between these two giants. Leibniz was only three years old when Descartes died, and even he had not begun to court the favor of luminaries from the Republic of Letters at this tender age. However, two of the most important of Leibniz's correspondences, with Antoine Arnauld and with Burchard de Volder, allow us to gain some insight into how he might have interacted with the master. The latter correspondence will be my concern here.

Scholars have long recognized the importance of Leibniz's correspondence with De Volder and have drawn frequently on passages from Leibniz's letters, both in book-length studies and in recent debates over the precise nature of his mature ontology. However, De Volder's contribution to the correspondence has received little attention, despite the fact that an understanding of the views which both correspondents bring to the discussion is essential for a proper interpretation of Leibniz's pronouncements.

The main role which De Volder plays in his correspondence with Leibniz is that of apologist for a particular brand of Cartesianism. De Volder's abilities as a disputant, and his genuine perplexity concerning the nature of the material world, force Leibniz to illuminate his own views in opposition to Cartesian doctrines on substance, matter, and motion.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×