Perception and Pluralism: Leibniz’s Theological Derivation of Perception in Connection with Platonism, Rationalism and Substance Monism

This article discusses Leibniz’s claim that every substance is endowed with the property of perception in connection with Platonism, rationalism and the problem of substance monism. It is argued that Leibniz’s ascription of perception to every substance relies on his Platonic conception of finite things as imitations of God, in whom there is ‘infinite perception’. Leibniz’s Platonism, however, goes beyond the notion of imitation, including also the emanative causal relation and the logical (i.e. definitional) priority of the absolute over the limited. It is proposed that Leibniz’s endorsement of Platonism, in conjunction with some rationalist elements of his philosophy, implies a monistic conception of particulars as modifications of a single substance. Following some scholars and opposing others, the article offers evidence that Leibniz accepted this implication during the last years of his Paris period. However, it is further argued that it was precisely the idea of perception as a property of every substance that allowed Leibniz to find a way out of monism after that period. More specifically, the article defends the view that what made room for ontological pluralism within Leibniz’s rationalist and Platonic outlook was the idea that perception is the property which constitutes the very being of substances: substances are their perceptions.

The Metaphysics of the Material World

This book traces a particular development of the metaphysics of the material world in early modern thought. The route it follows derives from a critique of Spinoza in the work of Pierre Bayle. Bayle charged in particular that Spinoza’s monistic conception of the material world founders on the account of extension and its “modes” and parts that he inherited from Descartes, and that Descartes in turn inherited from late scholasticism, and ultimately from Aristotle. After an initial discussion of Bayle’s critique of Spinoza and its relation to Aristotle’s distinction between substance and accident, this study starts with the original re-conceptualization of Aristotle’s metaphysics of the material world that we find in the work of the early modern scholastic Suárez. What receives particular attention is Suárez’s introduction of the “modal distinction” and his distinctive account of the Aristotelian accident of “continuous quantity.” This examination of Suárez is followed by a treatment of the connections of his particular version of the scholastic conception of the material world to the very different conception that Descartes offered. Especially important is Descartes’s view of the relation of extended substance both to its modes and to the parts that compose it. Finally, there is a consideration of what these developments in Suárez and Descartes have to teach us about Spinoza’s monistic conception of the material world. Of special concern here is to draw on this historical narrative to provide a re-assessment of Bayle’s critique of Spinoza.

Beyond Existentialism

This essay illustrates the limitations of predominant existentialist readings of death, mortality, and authenticity in Rilke and the presence of spiritual and esoteric dimensions that also need to be taken into account. Rilke’s distinctive conception of the unity of the realm of the living and the realm of the dead involves a marriage of existentialist and spiritual perspectives, and is part and parcel of his monistic conception of the unity of the visible and the invisible. The Sonnets to Orpheus build on Rilke’s treatment of these themes in his earlier major works (the New Poems, Malte, Duino Elegies). Rilke draws on the legend of Orpheus entering the realm of the dead (in his attempt to bring back Eurydice) through the power of his poetry/music, in order to articulate the role of poetry in facilitating an expanded awareness of the ultimate unity of existence.

The Three Dimensions of Administrative Law

My claim is that administrative law has three dimensions: legal, managerial and political. I intend to present them and to discuss their relations with each other. I also plan to show how the tridimensional framework can be helpful and contribute to the development of this branch of law. The tridimensional conception of administrative law provides relevant analytical uses. First, it allows one to understand the dilemmas involved in each administrative choice. Second, it gives meaning to the differences found in the solutions that different jurisdictions give to similar legal problems. Third, it permits to identify and rationalize historical fluctuations that happen inside the same jurisdiction. Fourth, the tridimensional framework has the merit of overcoming a monistic conception of administrative law, which for long fails to capture the complexity of contemporary public administration. And it can open room for a more realistic justification of options inside administrative law. I will develop these points further.

Two Concepts of Monism: Axiomatic and Asymptotic

According to Isaiah Berlin's influential characterization, value monism holds that there are discoverable, axiomatic ethical principles from which all ethical knowledge may be derived, that ethical reasoning is algorithmic and mechanical, and that it seeks permanent, “final solutions” to all ethical conflicts. Berlin's account of monism oversimplifies and distorts the idea of monism and its relation to liberal values. There is a fundamentally distinct conception of monism, “asymptotic” monism, that is not only compatible with liberty and liberal toleration but is required by these values. I present this alternative through an exposition and defense of Immanuel Kant's monistic conception of ethics and public law, where it finds full expression. Berlin's warnings that monism tends to support political despotism ignore the distinctive character of Kant's asymptotic monism.