Leibniz’s Monad: A Study in Melancholy and Harmony

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Detachment and absorption are two of melancholia’s fundamental features. In this paper I try to demonstrate that these features can be productively connected to philosophical thought. I do so by focusing on Leibniz’s fundamental metaphysical entity, the monad, which I interpret as revealing a melancholic configuration. My reading explores the special structure of the monad’s encounter with the world, arguing that the structure of the Monad exemplifies the possibility of a productive relation between its utter closure and its philosophical openness to the world entailed in its activity of constant expressing of the world. This relation, I suggest in conclusion, manifests the structure of a metaphysics of mood.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationContributions To Phenomenology
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages53-68
Number of pages16
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011

Publication series

NameContributions To Phenomenology
Volume63

Keywords

  • External Reality
  • Metaphysical Entity
  • Musical Harmony
  • Perfect Expression
  • Phenomenal Content

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Philosophy
  • History and Philosophy of Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Leibniz’s Monad: A Study in Melancholy and Harmony'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this