Modality in Leibniz’s Philosophy by Chloe D. Armstrong A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Philosophy) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Tad M. Schmaltz, Chair Professor Gordon Belot Professor George P. Hoffmann Professor Louis Loeb © Chloe D. Armstrong Acknowledgements Leibniz develops a metaphysical system according to which a person’s nature includes traces of everything that happens in the universe. When I think about the important influences that shaped my dissertation it suffers the same feature, its origin including traces of all details of my life and the people in it. Accordingly recognizing all those influences worthy of acknowledgement feels like it requires an infinite analysis. However, I cannot omit recognizing Tad Schmaltz, Louis Loeb, Gordon Belot, and George Hoffmann, for being so generous with their time, intellects, and comments on this project. Particularly Tad, who worked as tirelessly as I did at times, and who offered advice and guidance on every aspect of this process. I am indebted to the University of Michigan philosophy department, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their research support. Additionally, I am grateful to those participants of the 2015 Metaphysics and Methodology symposium at the Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, the 2014 South Central Seminar in the History of Early Modern Philosophy, and the 2013 Franco-American Workshop on the History of Modern Philosophy, ENS Lyon, for engaging with earlier drafts of these chapters. Time and time again I have benefited from the enthusiasm, unwaveringly sharp minds, patience, and kindness of the graduate students, faculty, and staff at the University of Michigan. Their efforts motivated me to do better work, and helped me make so many of those improvements. In the busiest times my friends and family offered emergency snack deliveries, ice-cold diet cokes, and bicycle rides. Thank you all so much. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... ii List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. vi Abstract ................................................................................................................................ viii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1 Necessitarianism .................................................................................................... 3 2 Modal Variantism and Leibniz’s Quasi-Modal Notions .......................................... 9 3 Summary of Chapter 1 ........................................................................................ 11 4 Summary of Chapter 2 ........................................................................................ 14 5 Summary of Chapter 3 ........................................................................................ 15 Chapter 1: Necessitarianism & Modality 1670-80 .............................................................. 18 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 18 2 Leibniz’s Letter to Wedderkopf ............................................................................ 20 2.1 Leibniz’s Commitment to Necessitarianism .................................................. 20 2.2 Divine Creation and Necessity ...................................................................... 21 2.3 Necessity and God’s Freedom ....................................................................... 25 3 On the Omnipotence and Omniscience of God and Human Freedom ................. 27 3.1 Strategy One: Possibility and Imaginability .................................................. 29 3.2 Strategy Two: Necessity of the Consequence ................................................ 37 4 The Confession of a Philosopher .......................................................................... 41 4.1 First Version (1672) ...................................................................................... 42 4.2 Second Version (1677?) ................................................................................. 53 4.3 Per se Necessity and the Dreaded Doctrine of Necessitarianism .................. 60 4.3.1 Per se Modality and Essences ................................................................ 60 4.3.2 Per se Modality and the NecessitarianNC Argument .............................. 67 iii 4.3.3 Returning to the “Confession” ................................................................ 73 5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 75 Chapter 2: Necessitarianism & Modality 1681-99 .............................................................. 80 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 80 2 Transitioning Away from Per se Modality ........................................................... 86 3 The Complete Concept Account, 1672-1686 ........................................................ 94 3.1 Logical Foundations ......................................................................................... 94 3.2 Metaphysical foundations ............................................................................. 101 4 The Complete Concept Account, 1686 ................................................................ 107 5 Leibniz’s Problematic Account of De re Modality .............................................. 115 5.1 Arnauld’s Worry ..........................................................................................115 5.2 Three Rejected Proposals ............................................................................. 118 5.2.1 Reduction to Truth in a World ............................................................. 118 5.2.2 Counterparts ......................................................................................... 120 5.2.3 Hypothetical Necessity ..........................................................................121 5.3 Criteria for an Account of De re Contingency .............................................122 6 Two New Modal Accounts .................................................................................. 124 6.1 Infinite Analysis ...........................................................................................124 6.2 Possible Free Decrees ................................................................................... 141 6 Necessitarianism .................................................................................................156 7 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................159 Chapter 3: Necessitarianism & Modality 1700-1716 ......................................................... 161 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 161 2 Background: The Theodicy and Being a Cautious Metaphysician ...................... 164 3 Varieties of Necessity: Absolute, Hypothetical, and Moral .................................170 4 The Necessitarian Argument from Omniscience. ................................................ 178 5 Possible Free Decrees in the Theodicy ................................................................. 181 iv 6 The Necessitarian Argument from God’s Perfection ........................................... 184 6.1 Premise 3: This World is NecessarilyATC the Best. ....................................... 185 6.2 God Necessarily Chooses the Best World ....................................................188 7 Freedom: Spontaneous, Intelligent, and Contingent Action ................................197 7.1 Divine Freedom ............................................................................................ 198 7.2 Human Freedom ........................................................................................... 202 8 Inclining ‘without Necessitating’ ......................................................................... 206 9 Leibniz’s discussion of other Necessitarians ........................................................210 10 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 213 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 215 Appendix: List of Key Works ...............................................................................................217 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 219 v List of Abbreviations The following abbreviations are used for primary texts frequently referred to in the text, keyed to the works in the Bibliography. A = Sämtliche Schriften und Briefe (Leibniz 1923) AG = Leibniz: Philosophical Essays (Leibniz 1989) CP = Confessio philosophi: papers concerning the problem of evil, 1671-1678 (Leibniz 2005) C = Opuscules et fragments inédits de Leibniz. Extraits des manuscrits (Leibniz 1961) DSR = De summa rerum: metaphysical papers, 1675-1676