Single Idea 7712

[catalogued under 9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 2. Substance / d. Substance defined]

Full Idea

Later philosophers emphasised different strands of Aristotle's concept of substances: Leibniz (in his theory of monads) emphasised their unity; Spinoza emphasised their ontological independence; Locke emphasised their role in relation to qualities.

Gist of Idea

On substances, Leibniz emphasises unity, Spinoza independence, Locke relations to qualities

Source

E.J. Lowe (Locke on Human Understanding [1995], Ch.4)

Book Reference

Lowe,E.J.: 'Locke on Human Understanding' [Routledge 2004], p.71


A Reaction

Note that this Aristotelian idea had not been jettisoned in the late seventeenth century, unlike other Aristotelianisms. I think it is only with the success of atomism in chemistry that the idea of substance is forced to recede.