Abstract

In a few key texts Leibniz points to his dynamics project as the origin of contingency in his system. He did not, however, leave us with an explicit account of how the distinction between necessary and contingent truths either arises from, or is explained by his dynamics. This has left an explanatory gap in our understanding of the connection between Leibniz’s physics and his modal metaphysics that scholars have sought to close by arguing that the laws of nature obtain their contingent status by virtue of being derived from the principle of the equality of cause and effect (‘Equality Principle’); a principle that is itself contingent. I call this view the ‘Transference of Contingency Thesis’ (TC). In this paper I show that TC is wrong by advancing the claim that the equality principle is, in fact, a ‘contingent necessity.’