Leibniz began work on the "Monadology" in the summer of 1714, while on an extended visit to Vienna. Its composition was prompted by the entreaties of the French courtier Nicolas Remond for further details about the philosophy that lay behind the Theodicy. Evidence suggests that the essay was never sent to Remond and that it remained largely unknown at the time of Leibniz's death in 1716. The essay was first published in 1720, in a German translation by Heinrich Koehler, who added the title Monadologie—a term never used by Leibniz. The French text of the essay, based on Leibniz's final manuscript, did not appear until 1840 in the edition of J.E. Erdmann.
The parenthetical references that follow sections of the essay are to corresponding parts of the Theodicy (found in Gerhardt, vol. 5). They were included by Leibniz in an earlier draft of the essay but do not appear in the final copy.
Translation copyright (c) 1997 by Donald Rutherford, all rights
reserved.