• La communication qui suit porte sur le concept de relation tel que le définit Leibniz dans sa correspondance avec Arnauld. La première partie présente trois des présupposés impliqués dans ce concept, à savoir 1) qu'il y a des relations entre des individus possibles, 2) que ces relations sont nécessaires à la notion de mondes possibles et 3) qu'elles sont également nécessaires pour compléter l'individuation des individus possibles. Dans la deuxième partie, on verra que le premier présupposé sembl…Read more
  •  10
    This work presents Leibniz's view of infinity and the central role it plays in his theory of living beings. Nachtomy argues that Leibniz employs three degrees of infinity: absolute infinity, which applies to God; maximum or infinite in kind, which applies to created, living beings; and mathematical infinity.
  •  16
    Real Alternatives (review)
    The Leibniz Review 12 89-97. 2002.
    Acouple of years ago I gave a talk on Leibniz’s approach to human freedom. I tried to apply some current philosophical distinctions in order to resolve the tension between Leibniz’s doctrine of complete concept, which entails every truth about an individual, and Leibniz’s insistence that such an individual—whose identity and individuality are defined by its complete concept—acts freely.
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    This volume explores the intersection between early modern philosophy and the life sciences by presenting the contributions of important but often neglected figures such as Cudworth, Grew, Glisson, Hieronymus Fabricius, Stahl, Gallego, Hartsoeker, and More, as well as familiar figures such as Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Malebranche, and Kant
  •  19
  •  19
    Infinity in Early Modern Philosophy (edited book)
    with Nachtomy Ohad and Winegar Reed
    Springer. 2018.
    This volume contains essays that examine infinity in early modern philosophy. The essays not only consider the ways that key figures viewed the concept. They also detail how these different beliefs about infinity influenced major philosophical systems throughout the era. These domains include mathematics, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, science, and theology. Coverage begins with an introduction that outlines the overall importance of infinity to early modern philosophy. It then moves from a …Read more
  •  12
    Nicolas de Cues et G.W. Leibniz: Infini, Expression et Singularité (review)
    The Leibniz Review 22 167-173. 2012.
  •  20
    The Leibniz–Stahl Controversy (review)
    The Leibniz Review 27 173-182. 2017.
  •  22
    Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza: Reason, Religion, and Autonomy
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy 23 (1): 193-196. 2015.
  •  23
    Leibniz lecteur de Spinoza. La genése d'une opposition complexe
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy 18 (3): 521-524. 2010.
    No abstract
  •  76
    In her stimulating article, Catherine Wilson considers the moment of worlds-making in Leibniz’s philosophy. She raises the following question: “How do possible substances give rise to possible worlds?“ and observes that the moment of world-making is as puzzling as it is interesting. In section 2 of her article, Wilson considers two approaches to the question. According to the first, possible individuals logically precede possible worlds and possible worlds are constituted either by combinations …Read more
  • A Leibnizian Approach to Possibility
    Dissertation, Columbia University. 1998.
    This work develops a Leibnizian approach to possibility by explicating the notions of possibility in general, in chapter 1; possible individuals in chapter 2; possible worlds in chapter 3; and actualization in chapter 4. ;A Leibnizian notion of possibility is characterized against the traditional view of an intelligible realm of thoughts in God's mind. It is understood in terms of self-consistent thoughts and is developed by explicating the notions of thought and of possibility in terms of the c…Read more
  •  16
    Leibniz and Russell
    In P. Phemister & S. Brown (eds.), Leibniz and the English-Speaking World, Springer. pp. 207--218. 2007.
  •  11
    Gene expression and the concept of the phenotype
    with Ayelet Shavit and Zohar Yakhini
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 38 (1): 238-254. 2005.
  •  13
    Leibniz on Infinite Beings and Non-beings
    In Smith Justin & Fraenkel Carlos (eds.), The Rationalists, Springer/synthese. pp. 183--199. 2011.
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    In her stimulating article, Catherine Wilson considers the moment of worlds-making in Leibniz’s philosophy. She raises the following question: “How do possible substances give rise to possible worlds?“ and observes that the moment of world-making is as puzzling as it is interesting. In section 2 of her article, Wilson considers two approaches to the question. According to the first, possible individuals logically precede possible worlds and possible worlds are constituted either by combinations …Read more
  •  182
    A Tale of Two Thinkers, One Meeting, and Three Degrees of Infinity: Leibniz and Spinoza (1675–8)
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy 19 (5): 935-961. 2011.
    The article presents Leibniz's preoccupation (in 1675?6) with the difference between the notion of infinite number, which he regards as impossible, and that of the infinite being, which he regards as possible. I call this issue ?Leibniz's Problem? and examine Spinoza's solution to a similar problem that arises in the context of his philosophy. ?Spinoza's solution? is expounded in his letter on the infinite (Ep.12), which Leibniz read and annotated in April 1676. The gist of Spinoza's solution is…Read more
  •  53
    Monads at the bottom, monads at the top, monads all over
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy 26 (1): 197-207. 2018.
    This paper examines a widely accepted reading of monads as the most fundamental elements of reality. Garber [Leibniz – Body, Substance, Monad, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009] argues that simple monads – seen as mind-like atoms without parts and extension – replace the corporeal substance of Leibniz’s middle period. Phemister [Leibniz and the Natural World – Activity, Passivity and Corporeal Substances in Leibniz’s Philosophy, Dordrecht: Springer, 2005] argues that monads figure also at th…Read more
  •  23
    Leibniz, Calvino, Possible Worlds and Possible Cities, Philosophy and Fiction
    Journal of Early Modern Studies 5 (2): 53-79. 2016.
    Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities presents a wide array of possible cities—cities whose composition turns on a productive ambiguity of their being described or invented by Marco Polo in his conversations with Kublai Khan. Implicit in this book is also a theory about how all possible cities are composed. The method turns on decomposing a city down to its basic elements and recomposing it in different ways through the imagination. I argue that there is a close affinity between Calvino’s theory of f…Read more
  •  23
    Infinite and Limited
    The Leibniz Review 26 179-196. 2016.
    This paper develops some important observations from a recent article by Maria Rosa Antognazza published in The Leibniz Review 2015 under the title “The Hypercategorematic Infinite”, from which I take up the characterization of God, the most perfect Being, as infinite in a hypercategorematic sense, i.e., as a being beyond any determination. By contrast, creatures are determinate beings, and are thus limited and particular expressions of the divine essence. But since Leibniz takes both God and cr…Read more
  •  57
    Leibniz on nested individuals
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy 15 (4). 2007.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  14
    In her stimulating article, Catherine Wilson considers the moment of worlds-making in Leibniz’s philosophy. She raises the following question: “How do possible substances give rise to possible worlds?“ and observes that the moment of world-making is as puzzling as it is interesting. In section 2 of her article, Wilson considers two approaches to the question. According to the first, possible individuals logically precede possible worlds and possible worlds are constituted either by combinations …Read more
  • Machines of Nature and Corporeal Substances in Leibniz (edited book)
    with J. E. H. Smith
    Springer. 2011.
  •  11
    Leibniz et l’individualité organique by Jeanne Roland
    Journal of the History of Philosophy 52 (2): 378-379. 2014.
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    It Takes Two to Tango: Genotyping and Phenotyping in Genome-Wide Association Studies
    with Yaron Ramati, Ayelet Shavit, and Zohar Yakhini
    Biological Theory 4 (3): 294-301. 2009.
    In this article we examine the “phenotype” concept in light of recent technological advances in Genome-Wide Association Studies . By observing the technology and its presuppositions, we put forward the thesis that at least in this case genotype and phenotype are effectively coidentifled one by means of the other. We suggest that the coidentiflcation of genotype-phenotype couples in expression-based GWAS also indicates a conceptual dependence, which we call “co-deñnition.” We note that viewing th…Read more
  • Leibniz and The Logic of Life
    Studia Leibnitiana 41 (1): 1-20. 2009.
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    Leibniz on Possible Individuals
    Studia Leibnitiana 34 (1). 2002.
    Während Leibniz' Vorstellung eines vollständigen Begriffs viel Beachtung fand, blieb die Frage seiner Begründung im Verstand Gottes eher unbeachtet. In diesem Aufsatz versuche ich auf diese Frage einzugehen, indem ich den Zeitraum (ungefähr 1672-1679), in dem Leibniz die Vorstellung eines vollständigen Begriffs als eine explizite Definition eines Individuums entwickelte, näher untersuche. Meine Darstellung über die Begründung des individuellen Begriffs im Verstand Gottes beinhaltet drei Thesen: …Read more
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    Leibniz and Kant on Possibility and Existence
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy 20 (5): 953-972. 2012.
    This paper examines the Leibnizian background to Kant's critique of the ontological argument. I present Kant's claim that existence is not a real predicate, already formulated in his pre-critical essay of 1673, as a generalization of Leibniz's reasoning regarding the existence of created things. The first section studies Leibniz's equivocations on the notion of existence and shows that he employs two distinct notions of existence ? one for God and another for created substances. The second secti…Read more