Single Idea 12708

[catalogued under 8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 2. Powers as Basic]

Full Idea

The soul, properly and accurately speaking, is not a substance, but a substantial form, or the primitive form existing in substances, the first act, the first active faculty.

Gist of Idea

The soul is not a substance but a substantial form, the first active faculty

Source

Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Fardella [1690], A6.4.1670), quoted by Daniel Garber - Leibniz:Body,Substance,Monad 2

Book Reference

Garber,Daniel: 'Leibniz: Body, Substance, Monad' [OUP 2009], p.92


A Reaction

In all of Leibniz's many gropings towards what is at the heart of a unified object, I pounce on the phrase "the first active faculty" as the one that suits me. I take that to be a 'power'. It has two characteristics - it is active, and it is basic.