In our essay we discuss the significance of the words aliquo modo (en quelque façon) in Leibniz's famous definition of truth. We show that the addition of those words does not indicate a lack of clarity on Leibniz's side or a variety of meaning in his definition of truth but that its aim is to guarantee this truth-definition's universal validity. We therefore give an overview of Leibniz's theory of individual substance and show that the expression aliquo modo derives from the (...) question whether knowledge of individual substances is possible or not. (shrink)

This book consists in a collection of studies composed by different researchers; every study focuses on an author or on some authors of the history of philosophy who has/have analysed, endorsed or criticized the concept of substance. Both positions for and against the ontology of substance are presented in the book.

Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 107 Heft: 2 Seiten: 369-388.

Zusammenfassung The sophist Callicles in Plato’s Gorgias is one of the few interlocutors of the Platonic Socrates who persistently refuses to be refuted by Socrates’ arguments. In the contrary, he develops an alternative conception of man which he believes can show Socrates’ ideas about the good and man’s happiness wrong and illusory. This contribution analyses Callicles’ anthropology in the Gorgias and argues that Callicles’ position indicates a systematic problem in Socrates’ conception of happiness. Therefore, its function within the Gorgias is (...) to introduce in to the conception of the Politeia where Plato abandons his earlier individualistic concept of happiness and replaces it by the idea of the philosopher’s state. (shrink)

In his criticism of the ontological proof of God’s existence, Leibniz does not generally reject this type of proof, but only the form it has been given by authors like Descartes and others. Therefore, he introduces the notion of “Ens necessarium”, “necessary being”, into the discussion. Some German authors have interpreted this notion as basis of a new type of ontological proof, whilst among English-writing commentators the same notion has been understood rather as a “simplification” of the classical proof. These (...) different lines of interpretation will be discussed in my contribution, and a solution will be offered which avoids the problems the different approaches to the question have generated so far. (shrink)

The following study should be considered as a contribution to the understanding of both Hegel's interpretation of Aristotle's concept of νου̑ς and Hegel's own concept of subjectivity as principle of self-knowledge in his theoretic writings. Its starting point is a closer examination of the famous quotation from Aristotle's Metaphysics Lambda 7 which can be found at the end of the Berlin Enzyklopädie. Hegel himself gives a thorough discussion of Aristotle's metaphysics in his Vorlesungen zur Geschichte der Philosophie which should be (...) regarded as the main source of Hegel's understanding of Aristotelian νου̑ς. Hegel's interpretation of Aristotle's concepts of νου̑ς and unmoved mover in the Vorlesungen are critically discussed in this study, and the importance of the principles of δύναμις and ἐνέϱγεια for Hegel's own understanding of »Sich selbst Denken« of the spirit is analysed in detail. Thereby, the different senses of >subjectivity< Hegel's own theory includes are defined and differentiated. However, their interrelation remains unclear. (shrink)

English summary: In this volume, Holger Gutschmidt has gathered together several studies on the concept of the idea and its relationship to the notion of justification in selected 17th century theories. His main focus is on the philosophy of Rene Descartes, who introduced the concept of the idea into modern epistemology. He devotes further chapters to Antoine Arnauld as well as to the logic of Port Royal, Spinoza, and finally Leibniz. The study of the concept of the idea in the (...) context of its function within theories of knowledge and justification has brought about a series of new research results as well as corrections to existing research. German description: Holger Gutschmidt versammelt in diesem Band mehrere Untersuchungen zur Konzeption der Idee und ihrer Beziehung zum Begrundungsbegriff in ausgewahlten Theorien des 17. Jahrhunderts. Sein Hauptaugenmerk liegt auf der Philosophie Rene Descartes', der den Ideenbegriff in die neuzeitliche Erkenntnistheorie einfuhrt. Weitere Kapitel widmet er Antoine Arnauld sowie der Logik von Port Royal, Spinoza und schliesslich Leibniz. Die Untersuchung der Ideenkonzeption vor dem Hintergrund ihrer Funktion in den jeweiligen Theorien der Erkenntnis und der Begrundung fuhrt zu einer Reihe von neuen Forschungsresultaten und Korrekturen der bisherigen Forschungssituation. Der Autor beschaftigt sich unter anderem mit dem Thema der von Descartes eingefuhrten sogenannten objektiven Ideen, dem Verhaltnis von Idee und Begriff, der Seinsart von Ideen, der Funktion der Idee von Gott, dem direkten Realismus. (shrink)

English summary: This book deals with the early philosophical development of Hegel.