Relations and Folds in Leibniz: Monadological Intimacy

<p>My goal is to provide a clear explanation of Leibniz’s notoriously difficult system of relations. Relations among ‘windowless’ substances that exert no causal power over one another seems like a pipe dream that should be abandoned. However, I demonstrate that each substance expresses its relations only through the unique representation of all other substances. That is, any relation a substance expresses is due to<em> </em>this unique, perspectival, non-causal, representation of others. Because this is the case for all substances, this means that this relation of representation is an ongoing process of interconnection for all substances. This representation is not merely a cognitive copy of the universe (i.e. all other substances); it is the expression of all other substances from a distinct perspective. By taking a holistic approach, I show that Leibniz is not contradicting himself when he claims that substances are windowless, relations are ideal, all substances are interconnected, and there are no such things as purely extrinsic denominations.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Philosophy

Year dc:date.available

2020

Author dc:creator

• Lambert, Jeff

Contributors dc:contributor

• Daniel Selcer
• Jay Lampert
• James Swindal

• leibniz
• folds
• relations
• intimacy
• ideal
• virtual
• congruence
• concurrence
• contiguity
• continuum
• Continental Philosophy
• History of Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Other Philosophy
• Philosophy

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1884

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-2894