Table Of Content193.1 SL2 &L
,
R. C. S L E IG H JR.
Leibniz & Arnauld
A COMMENTARY ON THEIR
CORRESPONDENCE
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sleigh, R. C., 1932-
Leibniz and Armuld : a commentary on their correspondence / R. C.
Sleigh, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-300-04565-4 (alt. paper)
I. Metaphysics—History—iph century. 2. Leibniz, Gottfried
Wilhelm, Freiherr von, 1646-1716—Correspondence. j.Amauld,
Antoine, i6l2-i6gj—Correspondence. I. Title.
B2599M7S53 1990
193--dc20 89-38107
CIP
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.
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Translations and Citations xi
Abbreviations xiii
Chapter i. Introduction /
Chapter 2. The Intermediary 75
Chapter j. The Great Arnauld 26
Chapter 4. Freedom and Contingency 48
Chapter 5. Substance 95
Chapter 6. Substantial Forms 116
Chapter 7. Action 137
Chapter 8. Concluding Remarks 186
Appendix A. Catalogue of the Correspondence 189
Appendix B. Suggestions Concerning Translations igi
Appendix C. The Draft for the Short Letter of 14 July 1686
Notes 199
Bibliography 219
Index 2jr
Acknowledgments
Research for this book began at the Institute for Advanced Study during
academic year 1982-1983; a draft of the manuscript was completed there
in academic year 1986-1987.1 thank the institute, its then director, Harry
Woolf, and the faculty of the School of Historical Studies, particularly my
mentor there, Morton White. I am grateful for financial support during
those two academic years to the institute, the National Endowment for the
Humanities, and the University of Massachusetts. I appreciate, in particu
lar, the support of Murray Schwartz, dean of its Faculty of Humanities and
Fine Arts, and Michael Jubien, head of the Department of Philosophy.
The research involved in this book required the services of various li
braries. I am indebted to Anke Holzer of the Manuscript Department of the
Niedersachsische Landesbibliothck in Hannover, the library of the School
of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Firestone Library
of Princeton University, Baker Library of Dartmouth College, and Sigfried
Feller, Edla Holm, and Richard Talbot of the University Library of the Uni
versity of Massachusetts. I thank the members of the Seventeenth-Century
Study Group for their help, particularly Robert Adams, Martha Bolton, Verc
Chappell, Edwin Curley, Willis Doney, Daniel Garber, Michael Hooker,
Ruth Matcrn, Fabrizio Mondadori, and Margaret Wilson.
I have benefited from comments offered at various colloquia where parts of
the work in progress were presented: chapter 4 at Georgia State University,
the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of Cali
fornia at Berkeley, the University of Southern California, the University of
California at Irvine, and Dartmouth College; chapter 5 at the University of
Georgia, and to the Leibniz Society of America; chapter 6 to the Newjersey
Philosophical Association and at the University of Texas at Austin; chapter 7
to the Spindel Conference on Rationalism at Memphis State University, and
at the Fourth International Leibniz Congress in Hannover.
For help in seeking out manuscripts and ascertaining their probable dates,
I am indebted, as Leibniz scholarship generally is, to Albert Heinekamp,
ix
x ♦i* Acknowledgments
director of the Leibniz-Archiv in Hannover, and to Heinrich Schepers,
director of the Leibniz-Forschungsstelle of the University of Mimster.
I am grateful to graduate students at the University of Massachusetts who
have taken part in seminars on Leibniz that I have offered there regularly
since 1972—in particular Andrew Black, David Cowles, Gregory Fitch,
Carol Gabriel, and Del Ratzsch. 1 also thank the head secretary of the De
partment of Philosophy, Susan Holden, who typed numerous versions of
this manuscript.
Hector Castaneda explained to me the rationale for concentrating atten
tion on the texts of a limited time period in the life of a great philosopher.
Over the years, he has encouraged my studies of Leibniz, for which I am
grateful.
The idea for this specific project formed in the summer of 1981, when
I was rescued from academic administration by the members of a National
Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar, entitled “Leibniz among
the Rationalists.” I am indebted to every member of that seminar. The bib
liography contains items that developed out of work done there by Lynn
Baker, Georges Dicker, and Alan Hart.
I also thank the following scholars who provided helpful comments on
work in progress: John Boler, Martha Bolton, David Blumenfeld, Daniel
Garber, Glenn Hartz, Nicholas Jolley, Mark Kulstad, Christia Mercer, Wal
ter O’Briant, Morton White, Frederick Worms, and John Wright.
I owe a great debt to Reinhard Finster of the Leibniz-Archiv in Han
nover, who generously furnished me with copies of his transcriptions of the
Leibniz-Arnauld correspondence, including a number of unpublished drafts
of letters from Leibniz to Arnauld.
I am grateful to members of the Leibniz group at the 1988 NEH Sum
mer Institute on Early Modern Philosophy, sponsored by the Council for
Philosophical Studies and held at Brown University. Members of the Leib
niz group offered suggestions for improvement in a penultimate draft of the
book. Specific points are credited in the footnotes to Gregory Brown, Daniel
Fouke, Daniel Garber, Mark Kulstad, Christia Mercer, Steven Nadler and
Donald Rutherford. No doubt others are deserved. Steven Nadler and
Donald Rutherford also helped with points of translation. Careful read
ings of a penultimate version of chapter 4 by Donald Rutherford and David
Cowles generated significant revisions.
During an extended and delightful visit to the University of California
at Irvine in 1989,1 received useful suggestions from Ermanno Bencivenga,
Dale Brant, Paul Graves, and Alan Nelson.
I thank my editor at Yale University Press, Harry Haskell, whose efforts
improved the manuscript significantly.
Melvin Village, N.H.
A Note on Translations and Citations
All quoted passages are given in English. The following method of citation is
employed for published material, except for citations to the Leibniz-Arnauld
correspondence: each quoted passage is followed by a reference to a source
containing the passage in the original language (for the most part, French
or Latin) and, in some cases, by a reference to a source containing another
translation of the passage into English. In some cases the translation given
here differs from the translation cited. Citations to unquoted material follow
the same format.
Citations to the Leibniz-Arnauld correspondence are more complicated.
Two distinct versions of Leibniz’s letters to Arnauld exist. Those best known
to students of Leibniz are copies retained by him and revised from time to
time with an eye to possible publication. These are published in C. J. Ger
hardt, Die philosophischen Schriften von Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, volume 2;
the standard translation into English is H. T. Mason’s Leibniz-Arnauld Cor
respondence. Fortunately, Mason’s translation contains Gerhardt’s pagination
in its margins. I employ the abbreviation “LA” for simultaneous reference
to Gerhardt and Mason. Versions of the letters as received by Arnauld are
published in Lettres de Leibniz à Arnauld d'après un manuscrit inédit, edited
by Geneviève (Rodis-) Lewis, abbreviated “RL,” Citations in the form
“LA---------” refer to a draft of one of Leibniz’s letters or to one of Arnauld’s
letters. In the case of letters from Leibniz to Arnauld, if the material cited
is substantially the same in both the version sent and the version retained,
or if it occurs only in the version retained, the designation “LA---------”
will be used. If there is substantial difference between the two versions, the
designation “LA---------(RL---------)” will be employed. And if the material
occurs only in the version sent to Arnauld, then the designation will be in
the form “RL---------
Unfortunately, some of the material relevant to my enterprise has never
been published in a format available publicly. In referring to Leibniz’s un
published correspondence I have used the designation “LBr” to stand for the
xi
xii *** A Note on Translations and Citations
relevant letter as catalogued by Bodemann (in Der Briejwechsel des Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz), followed by the revelant folio number, according to Bock-
mann’s pagination. Leibniz’s unpublished manuscripts receive analogous
treatment; they are designated “LH," with appropriate references to Bode
mann number and pagination (see Bodemann, Die Leibniz-Handschriften),
I have quoted liberally from sources not previously available in an En
glish translation. Where such translations are available, I have leaned toward
reference by citation alone.
Abbreviations
A German Academy of Science, ed. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz:
Sämtliche Schrifien und Briefe, Darmstadt, Leipzig, and Ber
lin, 1923—. Cited by series and volume.
AT C. Adam and P. Tannery, eds. Oeuvres de Descartes. Paris,
1897-1913. Reprint. Paris: J. Vrin, 1964-1975. Cited by vol
ume.
C Louis Couturat, ed. Opuscules et fragments inédits de Leibniz.
Paris, 1903. Reprint. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1966.
Confessio G. W. Leibniz. Confessio philosophi. Cited by page number in
A/6/3.
CSM The Philosophical Writings of Descartes. Translated by John
Cottingham, Robert StoothofF, and Dugald Murdoch. 2 vols.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
DJ James Dickoff and Patricia James. The Art of Thinking. India
napolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1964.
DM G. W. Leibniz. Discourse on Metaphysics. Cited by section
numbers as in G, vol. 4. Translated by Peter G. Lucas
and Leslie Grint. Manchester: Manchester University Press,
1961.
Doney Nicholas Malebranche. Entretiens sur la metaphysique (Dia
logues on metaphysics). Edited by Willis Doney. New York:
Abaris Books, 1980. Original French with translation into
English.
FC G. W. Leibniz. Nouvelles lettres et opttscules inédits. Edited by
Louis Alexandre Foucher de Careil. Paris, 1857. Reprint.
Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1971.
xiii
xiv *♦* Abbreviations
G Die philosophischen Schriften von G. W. Leibniz. Edited by C. J.
Gerhardt. 7 vols. Berlin, 1875-1890. Reprint. Hildesheim:
Georg Olms, 1965. Cited by volume.
General G. W. Leibniz. General Inquiries about the Analysis of Concepts
Inquiries and Truths. Cited by page number in C.
General G. W. Leibniz. General Notation. Cited by page number in
Notation Grua.
GM G. W. Leibniz. Mathematische Schriften. Edited by C. J. Ger
hardt. 7 vols. Halle, 1849-1863. Reprint. Hildesheim: Georg
Olms, 1963. Cited by volume,
Grua G. W. Leibniz. Textes inédits. Edited by Gaston Grua. 2 vols.
Paris, 1948. Reprint. New York and London: Garland, 1985.
L G. W. Leibniz. Philosophical Papers and Letters. Edited and
translated by Leroy E. Loemker. 2d cd. Dordrecht: D. Rei
del, 1969.
LA Leibniz-Arnauld correspondence. Cited by page number in
G, vol. 2.
La logique Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole. La logique, ou L’art de
penser. Edited by Pierre Claire and François Girbal. Paris:
J. Vrin, 1981.
LBr Eduard Bodemann. Der Briefwechsel des Gottfried Wilhelm
Leibniz in der Königlichen öffentlichen Bibliothek zu Hannover.
Hannover, 1895. Reprint, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1966.
LH Eduard Bodemann. Die Leibniz-Handschriften der Königlichen
öffentlichen Bibliothek zu Hannover. Hannover, 1889. Reprint.
Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1966.
LO Nicholas Malebranche. The Search after Truth/Elucidations of
the Search after Truth. Translated by Thomas M. Lennon and
Paul J. Olscamp, Columbus: Ohio State University Press,
1980.
MK Kurt Miiller and Gisela Krönert. Leben und Werk von G. W.
Leibniz: Eine Chronik. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Kloster
mann, 1969.
ML André Robinet, ed. Malebranche et Leibtiiz: Relations person
nelles. Paris: J. Vrin, 1955.
MP G. W. Leibniz. Philosophical Writings. Edited and translated
by Mary Morris and G. H. R. Parkinson, London: Dent,
I973-
Abbreviations *•* xv
Necessary and G. W. Leibniz. Necessary and Contingent Truths. Cited by
Contingent page number in C.
Truths
New Essays G. W. Leibniz. New Essays on Human Understanding. Cited by
page number in A/6/6. The Remnant and Bennett transla
tion employs the Academy edition pagination (New Essays on
Human Understanding, edited and translated by Peter Rem
nant and Jonathan Bennett [Cambridge: Cambridge Univer
sity Press, 1981]).
OA Oeuvres de Messire Antoine Arnauld, Docteur de la Maison et
Société de Sorbonne. 43 vols. Paris, 1775-1783. Reprint. Brus
sels: Culture et Civilisation, 1967. Cited by volume.
OM Oeuvres complètes de Malebranche. Edited by André Robinet.
20 vols., plus Index des citations and Index général. Paris: J. Vrin,
1958-1984. Cited by volume.
P G. W. Leibniz. Logical Papers. Edited and translated by
G. H. R. Parkinson. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966.
Primary G. W. Leibniz. Primary Truths. Cited by page number in C.
Truths
RL Geneviève (Rodis-) Lewis, ed. Lettres de Leibniz à Arnauld
d'après un manuscrit inédit. Paris, 1952. Reprint. New York
and London: Garland, 1985.
Schmidt G. W. Leibniz. Fragmente zur Logik. Edited and translated by
Franz Schmidt. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, i960,
Schrecker G. W. Leibniz. Monadology and Other Philosophical Essays.
Translated by Paul Schrecker and Anne Martin Schrecker.
Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1965.
Specimen G. W. Leibniz. A Specimen of Discoveries about Àîarvelous Se
crets of a General Nature. Cited by page number in G, vol. 7.
Systema G. W. Leibniz. Theologisches System. Translated by Carl Haas.
Tubingen, i860. Reprint. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1966.
Original Latin with translation into German.
Theodicy G. W. Leibniz. Theodicy. Cited by section number as in G,
vol. 6. Translated by E. M. Huggard as Theodicy. New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1952. Reprint. LaSalle, 111.: Open
Court, 1985.
