Overview

Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra presents an original study of the place and role of the Identity of Indiscernibles in Leibniz's philosophy. The Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles rules out numerically distinct but perfectly similar things; Leibniz derived it from more basic principles and used it to establish important philosophical theses. Rodriguez-Pereyra aims to establish what Leibniz meant by the Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles, what his arguments for and from it were, and to assess those arguments and Leibniz's claims about the Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles. He argues that Leibniz had a very strong version of the principle, according to which no possibilia (whether or not they belong to the same possible world) are intrinsically perfectly similar, where this excludes things that differ in magnitude alone. The book discusses Leibniz's arguments for the Identity of Indiscernibles in the Meditation on the Principle of the Individual, the Discourse on Metaphysics, Notationes Generales, Primary Truths, the letter to Casati of 1689, the correspondence with Clarke, as well as the use of the Identity of Indiscernibles in Leibniz's arguments against the Cartesian conception of the material world, atoms, absolute space and time, the Lockean conception of the mind as a tabula rasa, and freedom of indifference. Rodriguez-Pereyra argues that the Identity of Indiscernibles was a central but inessential principle of Leibniz's philosophy.

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9780198811992

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It is a testament to the thoroughness and insight of Rodriguez-Pereyra's enormously valuable study that the further questions it helps to generate promise to be so fruitful. * Michael Della Rocca, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online * Leibniz's Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles is both an important and an excellent addition to the literature . . . It is not only superbly argued, but also extremely clear, despite the difficulty of the material. I highly recommended it for both specialists and students trying to grapple with such an immensely important part of Leibniz's metaphysics. * Charles Joshua Horn, Journal of the History of Philosophy * Outstanding examples of what can be called 'analytical history of philosophy': an analysis of a past author's thought conducted with clarity and rigour. * Maria Rosa Antognazza, The Times Literary Supplement *

Leibniz's Principle of Indentity of Indiscernibles is a marvellous book. * Samuel Levey, Australasian Journal of Philosophy. * It is a testament to the thoroughness and insight of Rodriguez-Pereyra's enormously valuable study that the further questions it helps to generate promise to be so fruitful. * Michael Della Rocca, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online * Leibniz's Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles is both an important and an excellent addition to the literature . . . It is not only superbly argued, but also extremely clear, despite the difficulty of the material. I highly recommended it for both specialists and students trying to grapple with such an immensely important part of Leibniz's metaphysics. * Charles Joshua Horn, Journal of the History of Philosophy * Outstanding examples of what can be called 'analytical history of philosophy': an analysis of a past author's thought conducted with clarity and rigour. * Maria Rosa Antognazza, The Times Literary Supplement *

Author Information

Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge. He has taught at the Universities of Edinburgh, Nottingham, and Torcuato Di Tella (Buenos Aires). He is currently a Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy at Oriel College and holds the title of Professor of Metaphysics at the University of Oxford. He is the author of Resemblance Nominalism (OUP, 2002), and has written extensively on metaphysics and early modern philosophy.

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