The individuality of the substance and representation in Leibnitz. Along with chapter eight and nine of the "Treatise on Mataphysics"

Abstract

In chapter eigth and nine of his "Treatise on Metaphysics" Leibnitz, on the basis of the previously expounded complete concept of the simple substance, shows the inner connection between substantative individuation and representation. Opposing the historically inherited late Scholastic understanding of the question of individuation, Leibnitz establishes the principle of identity of indiscernibles and through it, basing his argument on Thomist teachings on angels, proves the essential individuality of the simple substance. According to Leibnitz, the principle of individuation does not reside in the accidental determinations of the substance but in its very essence which is constituted by all of its modifications and which is primarily manifested as the power of representation. What determines each individual substance in its individuality is the different degree of clarity and distinctness and the different perspective of its representation of the entire universe.