Leibniz and minutiae

Be they the magnarum rerum tenuis notitia that, at the beginning of the Protogea, is said to be precious; or the infinite minimal differences between possible individuals and worlds, or the small perceptions that together form the murmur of waves and the roar of waterfalls; or the minute circumstances of which the inventaries would be a most serviceable complement to the scientia generalis for use in politics, economics and medicine, it must be said that indeed de minimis multum curat Leibnitius. This is particularly apparent in epistemology, as it is shown by his comparison of analysis’ attention to particulars with the craftiness of miniaturists. This is also especially interesting for the theme of this Congress, as it is shown by the way the smallest things—as the single drops of wax that, in the NE, counterbalance the weakness of the will, or the simplest and microscopic living beings that, in the Theodicy, contribute to the positive balance of happiness even in this disgraced corner of the universe—play an irrenounceable role in Leibniz’s ethics and in the realization of felicitatem nostram alienamve.