Leibnizova kontingencia nie je náhoda ani nahodilost

Abstract

Conceptual exactitude is one of the appanages of philosophical thinking and metaphysical thinking specifically. A slight semantic nuance may, in the case of a particular philosophical concept, lead to inaccuracy of thought. What thinking inaccuracy may then conceptual inaccuracy lead to? The consequences may be exceedingly disturbing unless and until corrections and reinstatements are made. This paper aims to use one translation example to highlight just such an extreme historical blunder in the Czechoslovak philosophical milieu. I will try to indicate, using precisely one of the key concepts of Leibniz’s metaphysics – the Latin contingentia, or the French contingence and its derivatives – that translations of philosophical texts may not be permanently reliable unless they are periodically revisited. The above concept of Leibniz and its mistranslation is a striking example of this.

Keywords

• georg wilhelm leibniz
• contingency
• world
• universe
• possible being
• god
• metaphysics