Leibniz's Lure: Why is the Subject of Political Action Lost in the Labyrinths of Neomonadology?
Translated by Maksim Karpitski
Abstract
In this article I ask who is the subject of political action in the modern reception of Leibniz’s metaphysics. A review of contemporary philosophers’ works based on Leibniz shows that they consistently bypass the question of such a subject. Evading the question of the subject has implications for various versions of neomonadology, so this paper clarifies the problematic nature of understanding the subject by analogy with Leibniz’s monads. The analysis of Leibniz’s texts helps to point out the special role of the body (matter), which entails raising the problem of individual bodies’ ontological status. To solve this problem, I propose an analysis of the concept of “substantial bond” (vinculum substantiale) and its role in Leibniz’s system. An analysis of the substantial bond shows that it is impossible to construct a coherent theory of the subject (and, in particular, the subject of political action) on the basis of monadology. To develop and consolidate this thesis, in the final part of the article I examine the work of Agamben, which reveals the implicit aporia inherent in the monadology project.
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