A Substance Metaphysics Discussion: Leibniz’s Critique of Spinoza

The most obvious debates about the problem of substance, one of the earliest problems of philosophy, began in the seventeenth century. Along with its being accepted as the beginning of the modern philosophy, this century remarks the heyday of the rationalist philosophy. Although the two important philosophers of the period, Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) were united in rationalist philosophy, they fell into deep disagreements about the definition and content of the concept of substance. The purpose of this study is to examine the criticisms of Leibniz directed towards Spinoza on this issue by briefly revealing the position of Spinoza and Leibniz on the nature and existence of the concept of substance in the history of philosophy