Forthcoming
Articles

Samuel Clarke's Defense of the Space as a Property of God in the Correspondence with G. W. Leibniz

PDF (Português (Brasil))
  • Vinícius França Freitas
Vinícius França Freitas
Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, Brasil.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36446/af.e1194

Published 2025-09-24

Keywords

  • G. W. Leibniz,
  • Samuel Clarke,
  • Space,
  • Metaphysics
  • G. W. Leibniz,
  • Samuel Clarke,
  • Espaço,
  • Metafísica
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The paper discusses the Correspondence between G. W. Leibniz and Samuel Clarke. More specifically, it discusses Leibniz’s objections to Clarke’s thesis that space is a property of God and Clarke’s consequent replies. First, it explains what Clarke means by space as a ‘sequel of God’. Then, it discusses the fundamental character of Clarke’s principle according to which space is ontologically indivisible. Based on this principle, it is argued that Clarke is able to reply to two of Leibniz’s objections: that his philosophy threatens divine simplicity and that it makes God an extended Being. Furthermore, it is argued that the principle of the indivisibility of space may support an attack to René Descartes’ view according to which the finite parts of space are properties of extended bodies.

PDF (Português (Brasil))

References

  1. Arthur, R. (1994). Space and relativity in Newton and Leibniz. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 45(1), 219-240. http://www.jstor.org/stable/687969
  2. Arthur, R. (2014). Leibniz. Polity Press.
  3. Baker, J. (1932). Space, time, and God. The Philosophical Review, 41(6), 577-593. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2179668
  4. Broad, C. D. (1946). Leibniz’s last controversy with the Newtonians. Theoria, 12, 143-168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-2567.1946.tb00506.x
  5. Clarke, S. (1705/2010). A demonstration of the being and attributes of God. In E. Vailati (Ed.), A demonstration of the being and attributes of God and other writings (pp. 1-92). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511583346.005
  6. Clarke, S. (1713/2010). The answer to a sixth letter being part of a letter written to another gentleman, who had proposed several of the same objections with the foregoing. In E. Vailati (Ed.), A demonstration of the being and attributes of God and other writings (pp. 112-117). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511583346
  7. Copenhaver, B. (1980). Jewish theologies of space in the scientific revolution: Henry More, Joseph Raphson, Isaac Newton and their predecessors. Annals of Science, 37(5), 489-548. https://doi.org/10.1080/00033798000200381
  8. Cox, C. B. (1975). A defence of Leibniz’ spatial relativism. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 6(2), 87-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-3681(75)90016-3
  9. Descartes, R. (1644/1985). Principles of philosophy. In J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff, & D. Murdoch (Trans.), The philosophical writings of Descartes (Vol. 1, pp. 177-292). Cambridge University Press.
  10. Evangelidis, B. (2018). Space and time as relations: The theoretical approach of Leibniz. Philosophies, 3(2), 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies3020009
  11. Freitas, V. (2025). G. W. Leibniz sobre a irracionalidade da existência do espaço homogêneo na Correspondência com Samuel Clarke. Filosofia Unisinos. (No prelo).
  12. Freitas, V., & Ferreira, C. (2023). A teoria da substância no Ensaio sobre o entendimento humano de John Locke. Trans/form/ação, 46(2), 35-60. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-3173.2023.v46n2.p35
  13. Gut, B. (2017). Analysing Leibniz’s approach to space, time, and the origin of self-motion. Studia Leibnitiana, 49(1), 75-95. https://doi.org/10.25162/sl-2017-0004
  14. Hartz, G., & Cover, J. (1988). Space and time in the Leibnizian metaphysic. Noûs, 22(4), 493-519. https://doi.org/10.2307/2215454
  15. Hooker, C. (1971). The relational doctrines of space and time. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 22(2), 97-130. http://www.jstor.org/stable/686482
  16. Khamara, E. (1993). Leibniz’ theory of space: A reconstruction. The Philosophical Quarterly, 43(173), 472-488. https://doi.org/10.2307/2219987
  17. Leibniz, G. W. (1978). Streitschriften zwischen Leibniz und Clarke. In C. I. Gerhardt (Ed.), Die philosophischen Schriften von Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (Vol. 7). Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung.
  18. Leibniz, G. W. (1983). Correspondência com Clarke. In Os pensadores (Newton / Leibniz) (C. L. de Mattos, Trad.). Abril.
  19. Lin, M. (2016). Leibniz on the modal status of absolute space and time. Noûs, 50(3), 447-464. https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12124
  20. Locke, J. (1689/1999). Ensaio sobre o entendimento humano (E. A. Soveral, Trad.). Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
  21. Meli, D. (2002). Equivalence and priority: Newton versus Leibniz. New York: Oxford University Press.
  22. Meli, D. (2016). Newton and the Leibniz–Clarke correspondence. In R. Iliffe & G. E. Smith (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to Newton (pp. 586-596). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCO9781139058568.017
  23. Newton, I. (1687/2020). Principia, livros II e III: Princípios matemáticos de filosofia natural (A. K. T. Assis & F. D. Joly, Trads.). EDUSP.
  24. Newton, I. (1706/2002). Óptica (A. K. T. Assis, Trad., introd. e notas). EDUSP.
  25. Newton, I. (1962/2004). De gravitatione. In A. Janiak (Ed.), Philosophical writings (pp. 12-39). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107326347
  26. Reichenbach, H. (1978). The theory of motion according to Newton, Leibniz, and Huyghens. In M. Reichenbach & R. S. Cohen (Eds.), Hans Reichenbach selected writings: 1909-1953 (Vol. 2, pp. 48-68). D. Reidel Publishing Company.
  27. Rescher, N. (1993). Leibniz: An introduction to his philosophy. Rowman and Littlefield.
  28. Russell, P. (1997). Clarke’s “Almighty Space” and Hume’s Treatise. Enlightenment and Dissent, 16, 83-113.
  29. Sita, P. (2019). A questão do espaço nas correspondências entre Leibniz e Clarke. Princípios: Revista de Filosofia, 26(49), 161-181. https://doi.org/10.21680/1983-2109.2019v26n49ID14140
  30. Sklar, L. (1972). Absolute space and the metaphysics of theories. Noûs, 6(4), 289-309. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2214307
  31. Stein, H. (2002). Newton’s metaphysics. In I. B. Cohen & G. E. Smith (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to Newton (pp. 256-307). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCO9781139058568.010
  32. Stillingfleet, E. (1697). A discourse in vindication of the doctrine of the Trinity with an answer to the late Socinian objections against it from Scripture. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A61548.0001.001.
  33. Thomas, E. (2018). Absolute time: Rifts in early modern British metaphysics. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198807933.001.0001
  34. Vailati, E. (1997). Leibniz and Clarke: A study of their correspondence. Oxford University Press.
  35. Vailati, E. (2010). Introduction. In S. Clarke, A demonstration of the being and attributes of God and other writings (pp. ix-xxxi). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511583346
  36. Winterbourne, A. (1982). On the metaphysics of Leibnizian space and time. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 13(3), 201-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-3681(82)90008-5

Most read articles by the same author(s)