Title: Shrouded in Mystery: The relevance of that which we cannot comprehend in Leibniz’s metaphysics.
Abstract: Despite the fact that epistemological considerations are driving much of early modern thought in general, it might seem (and has been asserted) that Leibniz lacks any particularly pronounced interest in this area. He rather, so the view, engages in metaphysical speculation without great concern as to whether we can have knowledge of these matters. In opposition to this view, I aim to show that Leibniz, especially in his later writings, had an acute awareness of epistemic limitations we are subject to and that this awareness has a direct impact on the way in which we should understand his own metaphysical commitments. I argue that given the ways in which religious belief and experience are structurally analogous, considerations regarding ‘what is above reason’ and cannot be comprehended find application also in Leibniz’s general metaphysical reflections regarding creation in general and corporeal substance in particular. I suggest that we, therefore, can and should distinguish two levels of his metaphysics: a strict monadological and a more permissible and more richly populated one.
