LEIBNIZ E OS ANIMAIS

The continuity and the rupture between men and animals point to an internal tension within Leibniz’s philosophy. On the one side, he must be able to explain, taking as a point of depart animal nature, the emergence of what is characteristically human, following in this way the Principle of Continuity (i.e. the Principle of Sufficient Reason); on the other side, rationality introduces a qualitative difference that does not seem to be reducible to a mere distinction of degrees. The aim of the article is not to try to eliminate this conceptual tension, but to understand its consequences to Leibniz’s philosophical project and to Modern philosophy in general.