Element and System in the Philosophy of Leibniz

Abstract

The explanation suggested above for the origins of Newton’s fundamental postulate, that a system consists of equal elements whose essential properties are attributable to each single element independently of the system, forms the conclusion to an analysis which began with the discussion between Newton and Leibniz on the concept of absolute space and with the differing structures of their physical theories. The presentation of the basics of Leibnizian dynamics was intended to prove that the development of physical theory along other lines than Newton’s was possible in the 17th century. However, the thesis suggested as a result of the analysis also prompts some questions regarding Leibniz’s position and its origins; thus it seems problematical, on the one hand, to assert that Newton’s basic postulate on the relation of element and system had its roots in social history, and on the other hand, to demonstrate by the example of Leibniz that a different conception was apparently possible at just the same time. A further difficulty lies in the fact that Leibniz’s philosophy has traditionally been characterized as a ‘philosophy of individuality’, and his well known formulations that a ‘monad’ is a ‘world to itself’ and has no ‘windows’ etc. could even appear as classical examples of the ‘Newtonian’ postulate of the relation of element and system. But if both of them start from the same basic principle, then it seems mistaken from the first to oppose their principles to one another and to analyze this opposition.