Leibniz on Natural Piety: Toward a Conceptual Reconstruction

Abstract

The paper examines key transitions in Leibniz’s reflection on natural piety and the affective mechanisms underlying sensitivity to others’ pleasure and pain. In particular, through a comparison between two texts – Tit. I, De jure et iustitia and the Nouveaux essais – it focuses on: a) the inclusion of natural law within the scope of gnoseology, b) the terminological shifts that signal the extension of natural piety to the entire animal genus, following Leibniz’s abandonment of the Cartesian theory of the animal-machines, and c) the corresponding changes in the notion of moral personhood.