Leibniz’s only published summary of philosophical system as a whole was his New System of the Nature of Substances and their communication, and of the Union which Exists between the Soul and the Body, which appeared in the Journal des Savants in 1695. The first reply to be published, in the same journal later that year, was by Foucher.

Simon Foucher (1644–1696) had the title of canon at Dijon. However, he gave up his active clerical career in order to study at the Sorbonne, and he spent the rest of his life in Paris engaged in philosophical and literary pursuits. His main project was to revive the ancient Sceptical school of philosophy, and he became well known as one of the cleverest and most determined opponents of Malebranche.

Leibniz’s response to Foucher was also published in the same year. I have included an extract from this response, in which Leibniz clarifies his distinction between real substances, and merely ideal beings.

I have translated from the French of Gerhardt’s Philosophischen Schriften, Vol. 4. The Reply and Leibniz’s Comments are also in Francks and Woolhouse, pp.180–186.

Go to the Index to Leibniz’s comments on Foucher