Spinoza, the No Shared Attribute thesis, and the principle of sufficient reason

Description/Abstract

According to Spinoza, ‘In Nature there cannot be two or more substances of the same nature or attribute’. This ‘No Shared Attribute’ thesis, plays a crucial role in Spinoza’s argument for substance monism. Unfortunately, however, the case that Spinoza offers in support of the thesis faces a notorious objection, dating back to Leibniz. In this paper, after a brief reconstruction of Spinoza’s argument for substance monism, I suggest a novel response to the Leibnizian objection, one that is faithful both to the spirit of Spinoza’s work and to the letter.